Launch

The Arabsat-6A satellite is on its way to its intended orbit at 30.5 degrees East after its successful launch on SpaceX‘s Falcon Heavy rocket, the Saudi operator confirmed. Built by Lockheed Martin as its largest and most powerful commercial satellite to date, Arabsat-6A will provide high-capacity telecommunications, delivering television, radio, internet, and mobile communications to...

As SpaceX sends Arabsat‘s massive 14,000-pound Lockheed Martin-built Arabsat 6A communications satellite to orbit on its massive Falcon Heavy rocket, we reflect on the remarkable 15-year journey this “new” heavy-lift launcher took from concept to its first commercial satellite launch. SpaceX conceived the concept for the super-heavy, three core booster-stage version of its Falcon 9...

NASA will fund research and development for 18 space technology concepts, including solar sails, smart space suits, and a Lunar-polar propellant mining outpost, as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The developers of each of these technologies will use the funds to determine the feasibility of their innovations and ability to change the way...

Northrop Grumman is moving ahead on schedule to field its new OmegA rocket by 2021 in hopes that the U.S. Air Force will select it as one replacement to the Russian-made RD-180, with the first stage test firing scheduled for May 31, one official said April 8. “Our RD-180 replacement is going to be fired...

Rocket Lab will begin building a satellite platform called Photon, with the intent of launching small satellites into low-Earth orbit within four months of an order. The end-to-end mission solution helps enable small satellite customers to focus on delivering their service from orbit and generating revenue, rather than building their own satellite hardware. “This is...

Arianespace successfully launched four O3b Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites on a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on April 4. The Soyuz launch marks a milestone in SES’ O3b MEO journey, bringing the number of O3b satellites to 20, and making the transition into its next-generation MEO system. The satellites...

Relativity contracted with Telesat to provide launch services for Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. Telesat will now have access to faster, more frequent and more flexible launches at the lowest cost using Relativity’s Terran 1, the world’s first fully 3D printed rocket designed and built using Relativity’s  3D printing technology platform. According to...

GHGSat, a private company which owns and operates a satellite for monitoring Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from industrial sources, revealed that its second satellite will be known as Iris. The naming follows a company tradition to name its satellites after its team’s children as a symbol of the importance of its mission to future generations....

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45) from Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota, India at 9:27 IST on Apr. 1. This flight marked the first mission of PSLV-QL, a new variant of PSLV with four strap-on motors. PSLV-C45 lifted off  from the Second Launch Pad...

A Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 23:27 UTC on March 28. The mission launched a prototype reflect array antenna to orbit for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA’s R3D2 mission was launched just over 18 months from conception — a reduction...