Finance

[Via Satellite 02-02-2015] The Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite on Jan. 31 aboard a Delta 2 rocket. The launch also delivered four CubeSats for the agency’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELANA) initiative. ULA used a Delta 2 7320 configuration vehicle, which employed a...

[Via Satellite 01-28-2015] With nine flights booked and three more in negotiations, Arianespace is confident it will have regular launches of the Vega small satellite rocket starting this year. The long-awaited demonstration of the European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV), is currently planned for Feb. 11. Two more launches, one for a Sentinel satellite...

[Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems segment increased net sales by 10 percent during the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to the same quarter in 2013. The $368 million increase mainly stemmed from higher net sales of approximately $325 million for the Orion program, which saw its first unmanned test flight of the Multi-Purpose...

[Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center reports the Proton Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) has been transferred to the fueling area at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Fueling the Breeze-M upper stage low-pressure tanks will take two days to complete, after which the rocket will be rolled out to the launch complex. International Launch...

[Via Satellite 01-26-2015] SpaceX has closed its lawsuit with the United States Air Force over its $11 billion block buy of launches from Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA). Through an agreement between the two, the Air Force increased the number of competitive launch services opportunities through the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)...

[Via Satellite 01-23-2015] As part of a series of reforms of its space sector, the Russian government has decided to combine the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos with the United Rocket and Space Corporation. The combined entity will be called Roscosmos State Corporation. Igor Komarov has been appointed as head of Roscosmos, and Yuri Vlasov, former...

[Via Satellite 01-21-2015] SES has selected Arianespace to launch the all-electric SES 12 satellite aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in late 2017. The mission will be the 40th SES satellite to launch aboard an Ariane vehicle. Currently under construction by Airbus Defence and Space, SES 12 is a 5,300-kilogram hybrid satellite designed to replace the...

[Via Satellite 01-21-2015] Google and Fidelity have confirmed an investment of approximately $1 billion in SpaceX, powering the second large-scale Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications constellation announced in a mere five days. Together the two new investors own slightly less than 10 percent of SpaceX — a company founded by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk,...

[Via Satellite 01-21-2015] United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched the third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS 3) satellite for the U.S. Navy on Jan. 20 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. The next-gen narrowband tactical communications satellite weighed nearly 7.5 tons. MUOS 3 was the first mission of 2015 for the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture, and...

[Via Satellite 01-14-2015] Firefly Space Systems, designer of a dedicated SmallSat launch vehicle dubbed Firefly Alpha, has reached a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to collaborate on the design and commercial development of its rocket. NASA will lend expertise in the areas of technical consultation, engineering services,...