Launch

Arianespace launched a batch of OneWeb satellites on Thursday afternoon in its first launch of 2022. An Arianespace Soyuz rocket took off from the Guiana Space Center, in Kourou, French Guiana, at 1:09 p.m. ET, carrying 34 OneWeb satellites. The satellites were deployed in a series of nine separation burns over a period of three...

Astra’s mission for NASA on Thursday afternoon failed after the rocket experienced an issue during flight, sending the company’s stock tumbling.  Astra’s Rocket 3.3 took off from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 3 p.m. ET, and progressed to main engine cutoff. After fairing and stage separation, the...

Up to 40 of SpaceX‘s Starlink satellites are expected to fall out of orbit thanks to some inopportune timing: The company launched the satellites directly into a solar storm. A batch of 49 Starlink internet satellites were on SpaceX’s latest launch on February 3, and now the company is expecting to lose most of them...

Spaceport Cornwall is publishing a “Sustainability Impact Report and Action Plan” as it prepares for Virgin Orbit’s planned launch from the spaceport this summer. The spaceport shared details of the report and an action plan on Tuesday, calling it the first of its kind for a spaceport. The report focuses on five key areas where...

SpaceX launched a batch of 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday afternoon in its third launch of the week.  Thursday’s Starlink launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida followed the COSMO-SkyMed launch for the Italian government from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, and the NROL-87 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Space...

NASA selected 12 companies as eligible for contracts for its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions. NASA announced the selections on Jan. 26, including emerging and operational launchers, and rideshare providers.   NASA selected ABL Space Systems, Astra Space, Blue Origin, L2 Solutions, Northrop Grumman Systems, Phantom Space, Relativity Space, Rocket Lab USA, Spaceflight,...

Isar Aerospace has won a 10 million euro ($11.32 million) prize from the European Commission (EC), the company announced Jan 25. Isar won the EC’s EIC Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch” for its launch service solution Spectrum, a two-stage launch vehicle that aims to offer flexible and cost-efficient access to space for small and medium-sized...

The U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command launched the fifth and sixth Northrop Grumman Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 21. The mission, called USSF-8, was the first GSSAP launch since 2016. The Atlas V rocket for the Jan. 21...

Arianespace named Pierre-Yves Tissier new chief technical officer, as current CTO Roland Lagier is retiring. Arianespace announced the change as immediate on Wednesday.  Tissier has been deputy CTO of Arianespace since 2017 and has also served as head of Propulsion and deputy head of Launchers in Production. He has worked for Bertin Technologies, the Ariane...

Smallsats increasingly define the commercial space launch market, with a desire for independent access to space driving a new push by small launchers around the world. The number of small satellites orbiting to space worldwide tripled from 2019 to 2020, with smallsats representing 94 percent of spacecraft launched that year, according to Statista and Bryce...