Finance

[Via Satellite 08-20-2015] Barry Matsumori, formerly the senior vice president of sales and business development at SpaceX, has joined Virgin Galactic’s satellite launch team. With Virgin Galactic, Matsumori holds the title of senior vice president of business development and advanced concepts for LauncherOne, the company’s small satellite launch vehicle. Prior to SpaceX, Matsumori held a leadership...

[Via Satellite 08-17-2015] Inmarsat confirmed that the third satellite in its Global Xpress (GX) program, Inmarsat-5 F3 (I-5 F3), has been scheduled for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:44 p.m. (BST) on Friday, Aug. 28. International Launch Services (ILS) will be the launch services provider for this launch using its Proton launch...

[Via Satellite 08-17-2015] Lockheed Martin subsidiary Astrotech Space Operations has encapsulated the U.S. Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite in its protective launch vehicle fairing ahead of an Aug. 31 launch aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA). Built by Lockheed Martin, MUOS 4 completes the Navy’s initial constellation, providing...

[Via Satellite 08-13-2015] NASA has initiated the next round of its CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides access to space for CubeSats developed by NASA centers, accredited educational institutions, and non-profit organizations on agency rocket launches or International Space Station (ISS) missions. Selected experiments will fly as auxiliary payloads on NASA rocket launches or be deployed...

[Via Satellite 08-12-2015] The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed contracts with Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), European Launch Vehicle (ELV) and the French Space Agency (CNES) for Europe’s next generation launchers. The agency’s contract to ASL, prime contractor for the Ariane 6, is worth 2.4 billion Euros ($2.7 billion), to ELV, 395 million Euros ($441...

[Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Orbital ATK has purchased a second Atlas 5 mission from United Launch Alliance (ULA) to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. The mission will carry more cargo than previous Cygnus missions with the Antares rocket, and is scheduled for 2016. Orbital...

[Via Satellite 08-11-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) is confident that new manufacturing techniques, new technology, and new leadership will make Russia’s new Angara family of rockets a mainstay for the satellite industry. The Angara 1.2 made its maiden flight in July 2014, followed by the debut of the larger Angara 5 in December. Khrunichev, owner of...

[Via Satellite 08-05-2015] The U.S. Air Force wants to manage the transition to competing launches “very carefully,” now that two companies are certified to conduct missions for national security payloads. According to Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at the Air Force Space Command, the military branch is...

[Via Satellite 08-05-2015] Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services announced a contract from EchoStar to launch the company’s High Throughput Satellite (HTS) EchoStar 19/Jupiter 2. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to launch the satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., in late 2016. Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services...

[Via Satellite 08-05-2015] Generation Orbit Launch Services (GO) received a Phase 2 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ) for continued development of GOLauncher 1, a single-stage air launched liquid rocket vehicle. Through the contract, GO will work with partners Calspan Corporation, Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems and Ventions on...