Finance

[Via Satellite 10-07-2016] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have pushed back the sixth H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV-6) cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to Dec. 9, Japan Standard Time (JST), after discovering a leak in the vehicle back in August. The company and space agency team discovered...

[Via Satellite 10-06-2016] Orbital ATK has entered a multi-year production-based partnership with Stratolaunch Systems to provide several Pegasus XL air-launch vehicles for use with the Stratolaunch aircraft. The combination of Pegasus XL and the Stratolaunch aircraft will target small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds for missions to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Stratolaunch aircraft is...

[Via Satellite 10-06-2016] Arianespace completed the 74th consecutive successful mission of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle Oct. 5, tying the record of its predecessor, the Ariane 4, with a mission for customers in India and Australia. The dual launch delivered Australian national satellite operator NBN’s Sky Muster 2 into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) 28 minutes...

[Via Satellite 10-06-2016] Blue Origin completed the fifth flight of the same New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle Oct. 5, recovering the booster after an in-flight escape test of the crew capsule that was expected to very likely destroy the rocket. During the mission, Blue Origin intentionally triggered the crew escape system at maximum dynamic pressure...

[Via Satellite 10-03-2016] The United States Air Force has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the launch of the Space Test Program 3 (STP 3) mission in June 2019. The winner of the award will receive a firm-fixed price contract for a total launch solution including launch vehicle production, mission integration and launch operations....

[Via Satellite 09-29-2016] Firefly Space Systems has successfully completed more than 50 hot fire tests, including multiple full Mission Duty Cycle (MDC) tests, of the combustor for the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle. The combustor is designed for both stages of the smallsat launcher; the upper stage will use an engine with a single combustor, while...

[Via Satellite 09-28-2016] S7 Group, the largest private aviation holding company in Russia, has agreed to purchase Sea Launch, operator of the Zenit launch system. The transaction requires the approval of U.S. government agencies, namely the Directorate of Defense Trade Control within the Department of State, and the Foreign Investment Committee of the United States...

[Via Satellite 09-28-2016] The United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with United Launch Alliance (ULA) as part of the company’s effort to certify its new Vulcan launch vehicle for National Security Space (NSS) missions. The jointly written agreement facilitates data exchanges and...

[Via Satellite 09-27-2016] In a year of landing rockets, mega-High Throughput Satellite (HTS) ideas and renewed faith in Non-Geosynchronous (NGSO) orbits, 2016 has been exceptionally newsworthy. Even more news came out during Euroconsult’s 2016 World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) in Paris earlier this month, including a new family of Proton rockets, a Blue Origin reusable...

[Via Satellite 09-27-2016] Rocket Lab has announced the completion of its first orbital launch complex, Launch Complex 1. Located on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, Launch Complex 1 is designed to enable a high frequency of space. The facility will be the primary site for launches of Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle, designed to lift a 150...