Finance

[Via Satellite 09-04-13] Following the first meeting of the joint government-industry committee on space, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research announced that the government was allocating 25 million euros ($33 million) to an upgrade of the Ariane 5 launcher, within the scope of France’s Investment Program for the Future (PIA). The upgrade will...

[Via Satellite 08-20-13] International Launch Services (ILS) has appointed Kirk Pysher as vice president of mission assurance and product development. Pysher will be in charge of bolstering ILS’ focus on performance with responsibility for the overall quality review and monitoring of the Proton Quality Management System (QMS), oversight of Proton production processes and procedures, and...

[Via Satellite 08-19-13] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has cancelled the launch of the GSAT 14 advanced communication satellite after a leak was detected in the UH25 fuel system of the liquid second stage of the GSLV D5 rocket during the pre-launch pressurisation phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off. The leak...

The ILS Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) concluded its review on August 13.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) won a two-flight contract to launch Germany’s second-generation radar reconnaissance satellite system.

A summary of the findings on the root cause and corrective action plan following the failure of the July 2 Proton M Block DM mission, which carried three GLONASS navigational satellites for the Russian Federal Government, has been released to International Launch Services (ILS) upon being cleared by Russian security.

Turkey has approved construction of its first satellite-launching center to accommodate country’s growing satellite programs.

SpaceX has been awarded a launch reservation contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) to support the largest space program to date in Canada.

This column has previously reported on the in-flux state of the launch service provider sector of the space industry (see “Dollars and Sense,” April 2013), and has covered the progress of new market entrant SpaceX’s Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon payload. This market received another shake up this spring, with the April 21 launch of...

United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced the selection of RUAG Space AG of Zurich, Switzerland as its strategic partner for Dual Launch Capability development