Finance

[Via Satellite 12-03-2015] PlanetiQ, a startup with plans to field a constellation of 12 small weather satellites, has signed a contract with Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for the launch of the company’s first two spacecraft. The mission, slated for the fourth quarter of 2016, will use...

[Via Satellite 12-02-2015] The French Office National d’Etudes et Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA) is leading a study with partners in six European nations on the feasibility of a low cost system for launching small satellites. The three-year research program, known as the Air Launch space Transportation using an Automated aircraft and an Innovative Rocket (ALTAIR) project...

[Via Satellite 11-25-2015] Blue Origin has accomplished a significant milestone in the launch industry. Its New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space, reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing a landing back at the launch site in West Texas. “Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West...

[Via Satellite 11-24-2015] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have successfully launched Telesat’s broadcast and telecommunication satellite, Telstar 12 Vantage. An H-IIA Launch vehicle No. 29 (H-IIA F29) blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 3:50 p.m. on Nov. 24 (Japan Standard Time, JST). The launch vehicle flew as...

[Via Satellite 11-20-2015] United Launch Alliance (ULA) is kicking off a new program providing free launches to academia for CubeSat missions on the Atlas 5 rocket. The program signals a major commitment to ensuring academic CubeSats, which have ceded space to commercial ventures in recent years, are not crowded out of the launch market. President...

[Via Satellite 11-19-2015] Business leaders across the satellite and space sector met in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18 at the Atlantic Council’s “Space Race in Business Panel” to discuss how they plan to adapt for the evolving provision of services that require the space segment to acclimate to a new frontier. The panelists, including senior...

[Via Satellite 11-17-2015] The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) commended the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a bill that will extend the existing commercial space launch indemnification regime through 2025. The indemnification provision was included as a part of the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (SPACE) Act of 2015, for which the Senate already...

[Via Satellite 11-12-2015] Arianespace successfully launched satellites for customers Arabsat and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Nov. 10 aboard an Arian 5 rocket. The mission carried Arabsat 6B, which will be renamed BADR 7 for Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat, and GSAT 15 for ISRO. Airbus Defence and Space built Arabsat 6B with partner Thales...

[Via Satellite 11-11-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) announced a Multi-Launch Agreement with Intelsat for five ILS Proton missions through 2023 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The five satellites, yet to be designated, will be launched using the Proton Breeze M launch vehicle, manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev), the majority...

[Via Satellite 11-09-2015] Several companies are putting forth new approaches to handling latency in networks that could change the way communications are managed in the oilfield. Latency, known in satellite as the time it takes for a signal to travel from Earth to a satellite and back, has a minimum one-way speed of 242 milliseconds...