Launch

Airbus Defense and Space completed construction of the Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite (Cheops) satellite. The European Space Agency (ESA) recently gave the green light at the Qualification and Acceptance Review. Representatives from ESA, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI), and Airbus explained the mission, the satellite, and the Spanish participation in the Cheops program at the media...

York Space Systems‘ S-CLASS spacecraft platform was shipped to the launch site for the company’s inaugural mission. The platform completed the Environmental Test Program to obtain official clearance for imminent takeoff on its groundbreaking launch. York Space Systems is an aerospace company specializing in complete space segment customer solutions and the manufacture of standardized spacecraft platforms. The S-CLASS...

A rocket developed by OneSpace failed to reach orbit after lifting off from a state launch facility in northwestern China, state media reported on Thursday, the second failed orbital launch by a privately funded Chinese firm in five months. An anomaly occurred within “tens of seconds” after OneSpace’s OS-M1 rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan...

The U.S. Air Force’s second new GPS III satellite has arrived in Florida for launch. According to the release, GPS III is the most powerful and resilient GPS satellite ever put on orbit. Developed with an entirely new design, for U.S. and allied forces, it aims to have three times greater accuracy and up to eight...

Spaceflight will launch 21 spacecraft on a rideshare mission from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. The launch is scheduled for April 1. Payloads aboard the mission include the Astrocast-02 3U cubesat from Switzerland-based Astrocast and Flock 4a, 20 next-generation Dove satellites from Planet. This launch represents Spaceflight’s eighth launch...

Rocket Lab has scrubbed today’s launch, which would have been its second commercial lift-off. The company posted shortly before the targeted 12:36 p.m. launch time, “The team has identified a video transmitter 13dB down with low performance. It’s not an issue for flight, but we want to understand why, so we’re waiving off for the...

Vector‘s GalacticSky division achieved a major milestone on its path to launch its first software-defined satellite, GSky-1. GSky-1 successfully completed integration at the University of Southern California’s Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and will validate GalacticSky’s mission to help enable innovators to easily and effectively deploy space application technology in space....

Arianespace successfully launched the Italian Space Agency’s Prisma satellite on a Vega rocket at 10:50 p.m. local time from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana. Prisma is the 600th satellite to be orbited by Arianespace and the eigth for Italian institutions or operators. Prisma was built for the Italian Space Agency by OHB Italia as...

Phase Four, producers of electric radio frequency (RF) thrusters for in-space propulsion, created a new agreement with Japan-based Sunrise. Sunrise specializes in aerospace technology, including satellite hardware and launch. As part of a three-year agreement, Sunrise will be bringing Maxwell, Phase Four’s turnkey electric propulsion solution for small satellites (20-200kg) and other spacecraft, to market in...

Firefly Aerospace entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus Defense and Space to develop new space launch solutions for Airbus customers. “Firefly is pleased to enter into an MOU with Airbus to formulate an integrated market offering that will provide Airbus customers rapid deployment of Airbus manufactured satellites,” said Firefly Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tom...