Launch

ABL Space Systems revealed design updates to its RS1 launch vehicle, an increase in payload capacity, and a decrease in price. The upgraded RS1 has a larger, six-foot diameter, and is powered by a new family of gas generator engines, E1 and E2. RS1 is priced at $12 million per launch, or as low as...

Loon, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, will deliver a network operating system design that Telesat can use to support its global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The design will adapt and expand on Loon’s cloud-based, temporospatial Software-Defined Network (SDN) platform that Loon uses today to deliver mobile data services over its fleet...

Telesat and Blue Origin have signed a multi-launch agreement for the deployment of Telesat’s global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, which aims to deliver fiber-like broadband services anywhere on Earth. Telesat’s LEO program hopes to gain significant cost savings and other advantages by launching with Blue Origin’s heavy-lift New Glenn. With this agreement, the...

According to a report from Reuters, OneWeb Chairman Greg Wyler said that the company’s upcoming launch has been delayed due to a problem discovered on the Russian Soyuz rocket. The launch was initially set for February. “It’s true, there is an anomaly on the rocket which will cause us to push out the launch. Our...

Phase Four, a provider of electric Radio Frequency (RF) thrusters for in-space propulsion, revealed that Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems purchased multiple Maxwell thrusters for Tyvak’s expanding portfolio of end-to-end microsatellite solutions. Tyvak selected Maxwell to validate its capability to fulfill multiple mission needs, including orbital adjustments and safe de-orbiting of satellites. Additionally, Earth observation data company Capella Space...

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) successfully lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India at 23:37 (IST) on Jan. 24. This was the rocket’s 46th flight, carrying the Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites. This flight marked the first mission of PSLV-DL, a new variant of PSLV with two strap-on motors. In the previous PSLV launch...

Rocket Lab revealed that its first mission of 2019 will be a dedicated launch of a 150kg satellite for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA’s Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) mission is scheduled for launch in late February and intends to space-qualify a prototype reflect array antenna to improve radio communications...

OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between Airbus and OneWeb, carried out the first delivery of the first satellites for the OneWeb constellation. OneWeb Satellites will now turn its focus to ramping up production of the full constellation of satellites in its new factory in Florida. The satellites were manufactured at the OneWeb Satellites facility on...

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), denoted NROL-71, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Base in California on Jan. 19 at 11:10 a.m. local time. The mission is in support of U.S. national defense. The mission launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy, comprised of...

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 mission today at 9:50 a.m. local time. The satellites were carried aboard the fourth Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-4), which lifted off from the JAXA Uchinoura Space Center. Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstoration-1 is a suite of seven small satellite missions. ALE-1, a smallsat on...