Launch

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has awarded L3Harris Technologies a contract to provide avionics and communication equipment to support Amazon’s Project Kuiper launches. The contract, announced April 15, covers a five-year period. Financial terms were not disclosed.  L3Harris has been ULA’s primary launch avionics partner since 2017, supporting Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. The company...

French space company Exotrail will debut a new orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) for rideshare missions called the SpaceVan on the SpaceX rideshare mission set for October 2023.  The company said in a Tuesday announcement that SpaceVan is designed to deploy customer constellations over several different planes, altitudes, and inclinations. It uses Exotrail’s space proven electric...

Aerojet Rocketdyne secured its largest-ever RL10 engine contract to deliver 116 engines for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket. Aerojet announced the deal on Monday, financial terms were not disclosed. The RL10C-X engines will support ULA’s launch contract from Amazon for the Kuiper constellation. Last week, Amazon announced contracts with ULA, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to...

SpaceX launched an all-private astronaut crew to the International Space Station on Friday, marking the first such mission to the ISS. The mission is for Axiom Space, a company working to build a commercial space station and offer human spaceflight services.  The Axiom Mission 1, or Ax-1, successfully docked with the ISS at 10:13 a.m....

The commercial reality of parabolic flights launched from the United Kingdom is now one step closer with the news that Blue Abyss, and 0-G Launch have signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver on this promise. The two companies announced the MoU April 5. In the near future, people could be going to space from Cornwall in...

OneWeb signed a deal with SpaceX to resume satellite launches after its Soyuz launch campaign was stymied due to Russia’s war on Ukraine. The companies announced Monday that the first launch is expected this year. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.  “We thank SpaceX for their support, which reflects our shared vision for...

The first Astranis Space Technologies MicroGEO satellite is ready to ship to the launch site after completing final testing, the company announced Wednesday.  Astranis has completed vibration and vibroacoustic tests, final solar array and antenna deployment tests, propulsion system tests, software tests, and electrical checkouts. Last year, the company completed a thermal-vacuum (TVAC) test campaign. ...

Skyrora has opened a new rocket engine testing facility in Scotland, the company announced March 15. The site allows Skyrora to concentrate its launch development operations for the purpose of conducting acceptance tests for engines on its orbital Skyrora XL vehicle, as it aims to become the first British company to complete an orbital launch...

Astra Space successfully deployed its first customer payloads on Tuesday, bouncing back after a launch failure last month.  An Astra rocket took off from the Astra Spaceport in Kodiak, Alaska at 9:22 a.m. PDT, with payloads for three Spaceflight customers, including Portland State Aerospace Society and NearSpace Launch. The rocket had a nominal first and...

Rideshare provider Spaceflight signed a multi-launch agreement with Astra Space, and is targeting the first launch under the agreement on Tuesday. Spaceflight and Astra announced the agreement on Monday, and planned to also launch on Monday, but the launch was scrubbed due to weather.  Specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but Spaceflight has access...