Launch

MicroDragon, a miniaturized satellite developed by Vietnamese engineers, is scheduled to be launched in December with the assistance of Japan. The launch was announced on October 18 by the Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC), as part of a joint Vietnam-Japan project on disaster and climate change prevention using earth observation satellites. According to VNSC Deputy...

Arianespace launched a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket carrying BepiColombo – Europe’s first mission to Mercury, organized in cooperation with Japan – on its way toward the solar system’s smallest and least-explored terrestrial planet. Ascending from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch complex at 10:45:28 p.m. local time in French Guiana,  Ariane 5 lofted its passenger during a...

Arianespace will launch the National Advanced Optical System (NAOS) mission on a Vega C or Vega rocket under the term of a turnkey contract between OHB Italia and the Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defense. The earth-observation mission will be conducted from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, in 2022. Built by OHB Italia, NAOS...

The two newest satellites to join Intelsat’s fleet–Intelsat 38/Azerspace-2 and Horizons3e–each serves a distinct purpose, and plays a unique role in the international operator’s continued innovation.  After launching on Arianespace’s historic 100th Ariane 5 mission in September, Intelsat 38 will bolster Direct-to-Home (DTH) services in Africa, while Horizons3e – the fourth in Intelsat’sEpic series –...

United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully carried the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) mission into orbit for the U.S. Air Force on an Atlas V rocket that took off early Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral. This rocket used was an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) 551 configuration vehicle standing at 197 feet tall, and...

After considering Cape Canaveral, Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Rocket Lab selected NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to build Launch Complex 2 —  the company’s second dedicated launch complex and first based in the United States. Rocket Lab said it selected Wallops because of the high flight frequency available from the site,...

China launched twin BeiDou-3 navigation satellites on a Long March-3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 12:23 p.m. today. The satellites entered their planned orbit after flying more than three hours, and will work with the 14 BeiDou-3 satellites already in orbit. The satellites are the 39th and 40th of the...

Rocket Lab unveiled a new production facility in Auckland, New Zealand, that is designed for rapid, mass production of the Electron rocket. Adding to Rocket Lab’s existing production facility and headquarters in Huntington Beach, California, the new facility brings Rocket Lab’s manufacturing footprint to more than 4.5 acres and enables the company to build an Electron...

The Air Force awarded United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman, and Blue Origin each multi-hundred million dollar contracts on Wednesday to develop a launch system prototype by 2021 for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. Blue Origin will develop its New Glenn launch system with an initial launch capability by 2020, according to an Air Force statement. Northrop Grumman Innovation...

Boeing is investing in Accion Systems, a startup pioneering scalable electric propulsion technology to expand satellite capabilities in and beyond Earth’s orbit. Accion was founded in 2014 by two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers, and has received annual contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for the past three years. Accion’s new Tiled Ionic Liquid...