Finance

Airbus Safran Launchers, which became ArianeGroup on July 1, has begun construction of the combustion chamber of the first flight model of the Vinci engine at its Ottobrun site near Munich. Vinci is the re-ignition motor of Ariane 6’s upper stage. Construction has begun following more than 120 successful tests using development models. According to...

The U.S. Air Force announced it has awarded United Launch Alliance (ULA) a contract to launch the Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission. This contract resulted from a competitive award under the Air Force’s Phase 1A procurement strategy and is valued at $191.1 million. The STP-3 mission is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2019...

Arianespace has successfully orbited the Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN condosat, composed of two payloads for operators Hellas Sat and Inmarsat, as well as the GSAT 17 satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The launch took place on Wednesday, June 28, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. With this seventh launch...

Iridium Communications announced the successful second launch of its next-generation network, Iridium Next. This payload of 10 satellites deployed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) approximately one hour after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday, June 25. With this launch complete, there are now 20 Iridium...

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Safran Launchers, the 50/50 joint-venture set up by the Airbus and Safran groups, which will become ArianeGroup on July 1, signed the first tranche of the development contract for the future Prometheus LOx-methane engine at the Paris Air Show. Prometheus is a demonstrator running on Liquid Oxygen (LOx)...

PacSci EMC has successfully launched its own on-orbit technology demonstrator satellite, PacSciSat. The company will conduct payload tests to prove the performance of several of its commercial space technologies once the satellite is commissioned and in orbit. PacSci EMC’s intent with this mission was to give the company’s customers additional assurance and confidence that an...

Airbus Defence and Space and Arianespace announced they have signed a launch services contract for the next generation of very-high-resolution optical observation satellites. Two Vega C launchers will orbit the four satellites in this constellation from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Airbus Defence and Space is the first commercial customer for the upcoming...

After pushing back the launch of a Bulgarian communications satellite on Sunday, June 18, SpaceX announced it could proceed with “double-header” launches this coming weekend. Falcon 9 was set to launch BulgariaSat 1 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, but SpaceX stated on Twitter it would delay the launch to replace a...

International Launch Services (ILS) successfully delivered the EchoStar 21 satellite into orbit on June 7 atop an ILS Proton for EchoStar. According to manufacturer SSL, the satellite deployed its solar arrays on schedule and is performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan. Weighing nearly 7 metric tons, this is the heaviest satellite launched by ILS Proton to date. EchoStar...

SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon spacecraft for the company’s 11th Commercial Resupply Services (CSR-11) mission to the International Space Station (ISS). This mission marked the first reflight of a Dragon capsule, having previously flown during the fourth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-4) back in September 2014. Inclement weather delayed the launch, originally scheduled for Thursday,...