Finance

[Via Satellite 11-01-2016] Aerojet Rocketdyne announced it has successfully completed a series of hot-fire tests on two Launch Abort Engines (LAE) featuring new propellant valves for Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner service module propulsion system. The tests were conducted in the Mojave Desert in California, and confirmed the ability for the new valves to...

[Via Satellite 10-26-2016] Satellite data company Spire is vying to get as many of its satellites in orbit as possible after launch delays curbed the company’s ability to reach a desired constellation of 20 satellites by the end of last year. Today Spire has 12 satellites in orbit, and is aggressively pushing in hopes of...

[Via Satellite 10-24-2016] The market for 1 to 100 kilogram satellites will more than double to reach 375 satellites launched per year, according to NSR, with cumulative manufacturing and launch revenues approaching $7 billion between 2015 and 2025. NSR analysts expect that larger, more capable, and higher value platforms will comprise almost half of all...

[Via Satellite 10-19-2016] Microsatellite launch company Vector Space Systems has finalized an agreement with York Space Systems, an aerospace company specializing in small- and medium-class spacecraft, to conduct six satellite launches from 2019 through 2022 with the option for 14 additional launches. The first launch through the agreement is also to be the inaugural launch...

[Via Satellite 10-18-2016] Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket lifted off Oct. 17 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, returning to flight after a nearly two-year hiatus. The upgraded Antares 230 rocket now uses RD-181 engines from Russian manufacturer NPO Energomash in lieu of the AJ-26s implicated in the Oct. 28, 2014 Antares launch...

[Via Satellite 10-14-2016] Microsatellite launch company Vector Space Systems has decided to locate its manufacturing facility at the Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business & Research Park in Arizona. From this location, the company plans to manufacture its Vector-R and Vector-H launch vehicles. Pima County and the Arizona Commerce Authority are leading the facility...

[Via Satellite 10-12-2016] Eutelsat has revealed that the third launch in its Multi-Launch Agreement (MLA) with International Launch Services (ILS) will use a Proton Medium rocket, making the operator the first to commit to using one of the new launch vehicle variants. The mission is to occur in the 2019 to 2020 timeframe from the...

[Via Satellite 10-12-2016] Terra Bella, a Google company, has signed an agreement with Spaceflight Industries to launch SkySats on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The company will be the co-lead on Spaceflight’s first Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) dedicated rideshare mission, designated SSO-A, purchased in 2015. The mission is currently scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force...

[Via Satellite 10-10-2016] OHB SE subsidiary MT Aerospace received a contract on Oct. 7 from the French space agency CNES for the development, manufacturing, delivery and commissioning of the mechanical systems for the future Ariane 6 launch facilities at the Guyana Space Center in Kourou, French Guyana. The company is responsible for these tasks until...

[Via Satellite 10-10-2016] DigitalGlobe is working with the U.S. Air Force and United Launch Alliance (ULA) to identify a new launch date for its WorldView 4 satellite after California wildfires resulted in an unexpected delay. The Earth Observation (EO) company and partners are now targeting late October or early November for the launch. Vandenberg Air...