Launch

Spaceflight Industries will send Fleet Space Technologies’ 10-kilogram Centauri 1 nanosatellite into orbit on an ISRO/Antrix Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) sometime in 2018. The Adelaide, Australia-based Internet-of-Things startup is launching a number of small satellites the size of a shoebox to establish a low-cost connectivity network that supports applications for mining, agriculture, logistics and other...

Japanese launch startup Interstellar Technologies’ Momo-2 rocket burst into flames just seconds after its liftoff from the Taiki launch facility in Hokkaido, Japan. The Momo-2 launch vehicle was completely destroyed. The launch would have been Japan’s first privately developed rocket to reach outer space, according to the Japan Times. Momo-2 is Interstellar’s second failed attempt...

Arianespace expects to fall short of a planned record number of launches in 2018, according to Reuters. Although the firm iitially planned for 14 launches, the company now expects to conduct only 11. The decision was partly made in response to a data glitch, which sent a rocket off course earlier in the year. Arianespace...

The often-delayed launch of the James Webb Space Telescope has slipped another 10 months based on the findings of an independent review board, NASA announced June 27. The launch, which was previously slated for May 2020, is now scheduled for March 30, 2021, the agency said. Former aerospace industry executive Tom Young, the review board’s chair,...

UPDATED 06/28/2018 — Rocket Lab will no longer pursue its first commercial launch, “It’s Business Time,” within the current launch window, which closes on July 6, following identification of an issue with motor controller behavior during pre-launch checks on June 27. The motor controller behavior was similar to that previously identified during wet dress rehearsal operations...

Spaceflight and Virgin Orbit have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a mission to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in 2019. Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl, a dedicated 747-400 carrier aircraft, will carry LauncherOne (which will house Spaceflight’s customer smallsats) to an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet before releasing its rocket-powered flight to orbit. The two-stage...

Rocket Lab called off its initial June 23 launch attempt from Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The company confirmed that the decision to postpone the Electron rocket launch was due to an issue with a tracking dish on the Chatham Islands and was made just before 16:00 New Zealand Standard...

SpaceX has secured a $130 million firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Air Force for launch services to deliver the Air Force Space Command-52 (AFSPC-52) satellite using it’s Falcon Heavy rocket. This launch service contract will include launch vehicle production and mission, as well as integration, launch operations and spaceflight worthiness activities. According to the U.S....

SSL has shipped the first of three satellites that the company will deliver to the SpaceX launch base at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida over the next month. Driven by commercial advances, the three satellites will bring communications capability to connect people around the globe. Telstar 19 Vantage, an advanced High Throughput Satellite...

It is early afternoon and I am about to speak with Richard Branson, another of the world’s iconic business people who is looking more and more to space for exciting new business opportunities. When I talk to Branson, he is on Necker Island, his luxury private island, which is in the process of being rebuilt...