Finance

[Via Satellite 10-29-2014] Arianespace has signed a contract with Italian manufacturer European Launch Vehicle (ELV) for 10 Vega rockets. The order will supply enough of the light-lift launcher to fulfill Arianespace’s small- to medium-sized satellite missions for more than three years. The first of the new orders is set to enter service in 2015. The...

[Via Satellite 10-28-2014] O3b Networks’ next four satellites have been fast tracked from a 2015 launch date to Dec. 18, 2014. The earlier launch date follows the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) decision to delay the launch of the next two Galileo navigation satellites. In September O3b launched its second batch of four satellites on an...

[Via Satellite 10-24-2014] SpaceX has completed the 100th Merlin 1D engine used to power the Falcon 9 rocket less than two years since beginning production. SpaceX currently manufactures four engines per week; by the end of the year, that number is projected to reach five per week. The Merlin 1D engines are manufactured in California...

[Via Satellite 10-23-2014] Rocket Lab, manufacturer of the Electron small satellite launch vehicle, has set its sights on launching no less than once per week when commercial operations begin. The company grabbed headlines after announcing that it had already signed 30 customers for the as-of-yet proven launch vehicle. With a price tag of $5 million...

[Via Satellite 10-23-2014] SpaceQuest has signed a letter of intent to launch satellites on Mishaal Aerospace’s M-OV orbital launch vehicle once it is ready. The agreement defines the launch requirements and minimum payload requirements necessary for launch. SpaceQuest has launched its past four satellites on Kosmotras Dnepr rockets, but has expressed a strong preference for...

[Via Satellite 10-22-2014] On Oct. 21 a Proton rocket carried the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) Express AM6 satellite into orbit. The government launch marks the second consecutive successful Proton mission since its May failure, and gives a fresh restart to RSCC’s fleet renewal plan. Originally RSCC intended to conduct five launches this year, with...

[Via Satellite 10-21-2014] ViviSat will soon begin orbiting a constellation of Mission Extension Vehicles (MEVs) with room to carry hosted payloads into Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Jim Armor, Vice President, ATK Space Systems Division, which has invested in the in-orbit servicing venture, as has U.S. Space, said they are planning regular launches starting in three...

[Via Satellite 10-20-2014] China has launched Yaogan 22, a new remote sensing satellite using a Long March 4C rocket according to Xinhua, China’s state-run media agency. The launch — the 195th for the Long March family — occurred on Oct. 20 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, located in Taiyuan, the capital of north China’s...

[Via Satellite 10-17-2016] Orbital Sciences has committed to a new engine for the Antares launch vehicle that it expects will suite both NASA and non-NASA customers. The company did not disclose the engine, nor its manufacturer, but expects it to be ready for a first launch in late 2016 or early 2017. Orbital Sciences has...

[Via Satellite 10-17-2014] Arianespace conducted the 62nd successful Ariane 5 launch on the night of Oct. 16, carrying the Intelsat 30 satellite with DirecTV’s DL1 A payload and the Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anonima’s (ARSAT’s) ARsat 1. Both satellites bring new capacity to Latin American markets. Intelsat 30, built by SSL, carries C-...