Finance

China Great Wall Industries Corporation (CGWIC) orbited Kepler Communications’ first telecommunications nanosatellite, KIPP, on Friday, Jan. 19, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in Northwestern China. The mission serves as a technology demonstration for Kepler’s novel Ku-band telecommunications payload. Kepler intends to launch a network of satellites that will eventually enable in-space connectivity for other satellites,...

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched a commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite, Ansaro 2, on Jan. 18, using an Epsilon 3 solid fuel rocket. The Epsilon 3 carried the small radar satellite into orbit from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture around 6 a.m. JST (4 p.m. EST). NEC Corporation and the...

NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne hot-fired an RS-25 engine in a test that marked another milestone toward the first crewed flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS), while laying groundwork for future production of the heavy-lift launch vehicle’s main propulsion system. The 365-second test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi qualified...

GomSpace has purchased a launch for several nanosatellites onboard a LauncherOne rocket from the California-based company Virgin Orbit. The flight, which is bound for a low-inclination orbit, is scheduled to occur in early 2019. GomSpace will use the launch to further build out a constellation of small satellites that will use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and...

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta 4 rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 12. Because the mission — designated NROL 47 — is classified, NRO has not released information on what the satellite will be used for, stating only that...

Telesat announced the successful launch of its first Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite, an important milestone in the company’s plans to deploy a global LEO constellation to provide broadband communications services around the world. Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite flew into orbit aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) operated by the Indian Space Research...

ArianeGroup and its Arianespace subsidiary have announced an order for 10 Ariane 5 ECA launchers, dubbed the “PC batch.” Arianespace will deploy this last set of Ariane 5 rockets from the Guiana Space Center beginning in 2020, coming after the launches of 18 Ariane 5s ordered in 2013 (the PB+ batch). According to Arianespace, the...

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is preparing its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for its 42nd flight on Friday, Jan. 12. The primary payload for the mission is India’s Cartosat 2 Earth Observation (EO) satellite, but it will also carry 30 co-passenger satellites when it lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC)...

Arianespace has signed an agreement to launch two satellites for Intelsat. The first launch will carry Intelsat’s Galaxy 30 satellite together with the Orbital ATK Mission Extension Vehicle 2 (MEV 2) as a stacked pair. Galaxy 30 will be the first replacement satellite for the North American Galaxy fleet and in addition to its C-band...

SpaceX attempted to launch a highly classified payload — codenamed Zuma — for the U.S. government on Sunday, Jan. 7. According to SpaceX, Falcon 9 completed its job as planned, ejecting the satellite into space before returning to Earth for a safe relanding. Government officials, however, told Reuters on Monday that the satellite did not...