Finance

[Via Satellite 05-02-2016] Airbus Group and Safran have signed an agreement for the second and final phase of their 50/50 Joint Venture (JV): Airbus Safran Launchers. Under the first phase of the JV, Airbus Group and Safran created a joint program company with their respective civil program contracts and major participations related to civil launcher...

[Via Satellite 04-29-2016] United Launch Alliance (ULA) has traced the cause of an anomaly that occurred during the March 22 OA-6 Cygnus mission for Orbital ATK to the RD-180 engine’s Mixture Ratio Control Valve (MRCV). According to the company, the assembly of the valve caused a reduction in fuel flow during the boost phase of...

[Via Satellite 04-28-2016] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) completed the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation April 28 with the successful launch of IRNSS 1G. The satellite, seventh in the fleet, launched aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). IRNSS 1G separated from the rocket’s fourth stage after 19 minutes and 42 seconds, and...

[Via Satellite 04-28-2016] Vector Space Systems, a startup company focusing on launch services for micro satellites, has raised more than $1 million in angel funding at Silicon Valley-based Space 2.0. With an executive team comprised of original SpaceX founders, as well as space industry veterans from Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch, the company’s goal is...

[Via Satellite 04-27-2016] Virgin Galactic is planning a test campaign for its LauncherOne small satellite launch vehicle next year consisting of multiple trial-launches to pave the way for commercial missions. The air-launched vehicle, first announced in 2012, has undergone some significant evolutions since inception, including a doubling of its payload performance, improved engines and switching...

[Via Satellite 04-26-2016] Sky Perfect JSAT announced May 4 as the intended launch date for the JCSAT 14 satellite. SpaceX is providing the launch using a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. JCSAT 14, a communications satellite with Ku and C-band beams, will replace JCSAT 2A at 154 degrees east...

[Via Satellite 04-26-2016] Arianespace launched a Soyuz rocket April 25 from Kourou, French Guiana, delivering five satellites into three different Low Earth Orbits (LEO) over the course of a four-hour mission. Soyuz conducted multiple burns of its re-ignitable Fregat upper stage to properly orbit each satellite. The launch first released Sentinel 1B, a European Space...

[Via Satellite 04-20-2016] Launch provider Arianespace increased its turnover by 2.4 percent in 2015, growing to $1.623 billion (1.433 billion euros) over last year’s record of $1.585 billion (1.399 billion euros). In 2015 Arianespace completed a company record of 12 launches from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana — six by Ariane 5,...

[Via Satellite 04-14-2016] Rocket Lab has successfully completed the qualification of the entire second stage of the Electron launch vehicle. According to the company, the second stages are running at peak performance and are set to fly during the Electron test program scheduled to run throughout the second half of 2016. The second stage, built...

[Via Satellite 04-12-2016] Generation Orbit Launch Services (GO) and NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) have signed a Space Act Agreement (SSA) to collaboratively pursue the design, manufacture and test of a new composite cryogenic tank for the company’s GOLauncher family of air launch rocket vehicles. Leveraging LaRC’s Integrated Structural Assembly of Composites (ISAAC) automated manufacturing...