Finance

[Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Following the completion of a design and construction phase that lasted slightly more than two years, Arianespace has inaugurated its new Fregat Fueling Facility (FCube) at Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The building, constructed mostly by local contractors, met its quality, budget, and schedule requirements, and is expected...

[Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Firefly Space Systems, has released its Payload User’s Guide for the Alpha vehicle, the company’s first small satellite rocket in a scalable family of launch vehicles currently under development. The Payload User’s Guide provides Firefly’s customers with information detailing the operations and capabilities of its Alpha vehicle. The document’s purpose is to enable...

[Via Satellite 07-15-2015] The Houston Airport System (HAS) is looking to position itself at the heart of the space industry as it moves forward with plans to establish a commercial spaceport at Ellington Airport (EFD). FAA officials have recently granted HAS a launch site license, which allows the airport to establish itself as a site...

[Via Satellite 07-16-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) is now actively marketing the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle along with the flagship Proton rocket, expanding the company’s range of launch options. Built by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center (Khrunichev), the majority owner of ILS, the Angara 1.2 can lift three metric tons to Low Earth...

[Via Satellite 07-16-2015] On the heels of its third Ariane 5 launch of the year, Arianespace clenched a new contract from the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to orbit geostationary satellites from the upcoming Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) series. The company received two firm Ariane 5 ECA launch orders for MTG-I1...

[Via Satellite 07-14-2015] The U.S. Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office has awarded a $23.6 million contract to Orbital ATK to launch the ORS-5 SensorSat spacecraft in mid-2017 using a rocket from the company’s Minotaur launch vehicle family. Orbital ATK plans to conduct the mission using a Minotaur 4 rocket from Launch Complex-46, operated by...

[Via Satellite 07-13-2015] The Institute for Defense Analyses has completed its Broad Area Review (BAR) of the United States Air Force Space Command’s (AFSPC) launch vehicle certification process. The independent review examined the process and provided specific recommendations to apply lessons learned from the unexpectedly lengthy certification of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for medium-weight National...

[Via Satellite 07-13-2015] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched five satellites from spacecraft manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) on a July 10 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-XL mission. The PSLV-C28 mission was the 30th PSLV launch, and ninth of the XL configuration. Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, established the launch agreement....

[Via Satellite 07-10-2015] Several companies have expressed interest in commercializing the Super Strypi dedicated small satellite launch vehicle currently under development by the U.S. Air Force Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office. Speaking July 10 at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, Colonel John Anttonen, director of ORS, said the rail-launched rocket has attracted the...

[Via Satellite 07-01-2015] Rocket Lab recently announced plans to establish a commercial launch site on Kaitorete Spit in the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island for its Electron launch vehicle. The location, which has been used for suborbital flights by NASA in the past, can reach a wide range of inclinations from sun-synchronous orbit through...