Finance

[Via Satellite 07-23-2014] SpaceX released video footage showing the company’s latest attempt to soft-land the Falcon 9 rocket following the launch of six OG2 satellites for Orbcomm. After the soft-landing, the rocket was purposefully allowed to fall sideways, splashing down into the ocean. SpaceX reports that enough information was gained from this process to prove...

[Via Satellite 07-21-2014] Arianespace has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch Sentinel 1B, the second radar satellite in the Copernicus program. The launch is planned for 2016 using a Soyuz rocket and will deliver the satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. Sentinel is a joint environmental monitoring program between the European...

Satellite launch services providers are re-examining vessel management, engine design, and diversity of manifests, among other strategies, to lower costs and remain competitive. We take a deeper look at how each of the key players in the market is strategizing for future challenges. It’s a busy time for the satellite launch industry if one goes by...

[Via Satellite 07-16-2014] Though more prominently known for its suborbital spaceflight business, Virgin Galactic has also been working on a dedicated small satellite launch system known as LauncherOne. Speaking to Via Satellite, George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said the company hopes to have liftoff using its air-launch system within the next two years. “We try not to...

[Via Satellite 07-16-2014] Spaceflight Inc. and NanoRacks are assisting Planet Labs in the launch of 28 CubeSats from the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a joint teaming agreement. The Earth-imaging satellites were carried aboard an Orbital Sciences-built Cygnus spacecraft, which docked with the ISS today. Spaceflight Inc. tapped its launch-industry network to arrange...

[Via Satellite 07-15-2014] SpaceX has completed the long-awaited launch of Orbcomm’s first batch of second-generation satellites. After repeated delays, the launch took place from Cape Canaveral Air Force station using a Falcon 9 rocket. Orbcomm, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) satellite company, is using the satellites to fill a hole in its existing constellation, OG1 where some...

[Via Satellite 07-14-2014] SpaceX has confirmed the Air Force certified the Falcon 9 rocket as meeting the three-launch prerequisite for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The company expects to complete the remaining requirements by the end of 2014. In April SpaceX filed a bid protest against the Air Force over the block buy...

[Via Satellite 07-14-2014] On Sunday July 13, 2014 Orbital Sciences completed the second resupply mission for the International Space Station as part of the company’s $1.9-billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Orbital’s Antares rocket lofted the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, which is expected to berth with the ISS on July 16. Besides carrying 1493.8...

[Via Satellite 07-11-2014] O3b Networks, the company dedicated to reaching “the other three billion” with high-speed satellite connectivity, yesterday completed the launch of its second batch of four Ka-band satellites. An Arianespace Soyuz rocket carried the spacecraft into Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an altitude of 8,062 kilometers, or roughly 5,010 miles, releasing the satellites...

[Via Satellite 07-09-2014] On July 8, 2014 a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket carried Russia’s Meteor M2 weather satellite along with six small satellites for domestic and international customers. The launch took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Built by VNIIEM Corporation JSC, Meteor M2 has a design life of five years and will study a...