Launch

Relativity secured an agreement with the NASA and an incentive package from the Mississippi Development Authority to expand facilities and infrastructure at NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. Through this agreement, Relativity will leverage existing NASA infrastructure and capital investment incentives from the Mississippi Development Authority to build and integrate a pioneering...

As Chair of the SATELLITE conference, I am privileged to get an exciting behind-the-scenes view into the planning process that happens in the months leading to the event. The following is a list of takes that I felt stood out from a very busy week of conference sessions and keynote The satellite industry is a...

At its re:Mars conference, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos took the stage today to be “interviewed” by Jenny Freshwater, Amazon’s director of forecasting. As any AWS machine learning tool could have forecasted, having an employee interview her boss didn’t lead to any challenging questions or especially illuminating answers, but Bezos did get a chance to talk...

Virgin Orbit signed an agreement with ANA Holdings (ANA HD), parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, to bring the company’s LauncherOne service to Japan. Subject to U.S. government regulatory approvals, Virgin Orbit’s system — which uses a 747 widebody jet as a “flying launch pad” for its rocket — will complement...

NanoAvionics and consortium partners KSAT and Antwerp Space have been awarded approximately $11.3 million (10 million euros) in funding by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020, the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES), and private investors. The funding is for the first demonstration of the pre-cursor stage of the global Internet of Things...

China successfully launched its first rocket from an offshore launch site. On June 25, China launched the CZ-11 Solid-fuel Space Launch Vehicle (CZ-11 WEY) from a mobile platform on the Yellow Sea, successfully sending seven commercial satellites into a circular orbit of about 600 kilometers. These satellites included Bufeng No.1 A/B Satellite, China125 No. 1...

Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) successfully deployed the de-orbit drag sail on-board TechDemoSat-1. The deployment of the Icarus-1 drag sail, which was supplied by Cranfield University, marks the end of mission operations for SSTL’s TechDemoSat-1 small satellite which was launched into a 635 kilometer Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in 2014. TechDemoSat-1, a 150 kilogram in-orbit technology demonstration...

Eutelsat Communications’ newest high-power broadcast satellite, EUTELSAT 7C, arrived at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana where it will be launched as a co-passenger on an Ariane 5 rocket on June 20. Built by Maxar Technologies, the 3.4 ton satellite will serve markets across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Turkey through 49 36-Mhz equivalent...

Russia successfully launched the Proton M/Breeze M integrated launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 30 at 8:42 p.m. (Moscow time), and injected the Yamal-601 telecommunication satellite into orbit. The Yamal-601 project is part of the Targeted Federal Program for the Development of Television and Radio Broadcasting in the Russian Federation. According to the...

The recent launch of Russia’s Roscosmos Soyuz 2-1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome witnessed some dramatic events after the rocket was struck by a bolt of lightning as it made its ascent. However, the lightning did not affect the rocket’s course and it successfully completed its 3.5 hours journey to reach earth’s low-orbit where it...