Launch

Virgin Orbit has added Spire Global as a late-load customer addition to its upcoming launch, and completed satellite integration within 36 hours. CEO Dan Hart said the launch contract went from an initial conversation to final section in 20 days, showing the flexibility of Virgin Orbit’s launch system.  “It’s flat-out amazing!” Hart said. “Spire’s recent...

Brazilian power company Oliveira Energia has selected Speedcast to provide connectivity service to 42 power plants in Brazil’s Amazonas state. Speedcast’s Brazilian entity SC Caprock will deliver service under the multi-year agreement announced Dec. 7. Financial terms were not disclosed.  The agreement includes the now completed installation and launch of a C-band Very Small Aperture...

The United Kingdom space arena reached a significant moment on Thursday as it moves toward sovereign launch capability. Orbex, a private small satellite launch services provider, has started construction of its first launch platform, claiming that this is the first orbital space launchpad to be built in the U.K. for more than half a century....

Rocket Lab completed its final mission of 2021 early on Thursday, launching two satellites for BlackSky from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Dubbed ‘A Data With Destiny,’ this was Rocket Lab’s second launch for customer BlackSky in three weeks, following a Nov. 18 launch.  The Electron rocket took off at 12:02 a.m....

SpaceX launched a NASA mission early Thursday that will measure supernova remnants and supermassive black holes in the universe.  A Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Dec. 9. Spacecraft separation took place 33 minutes into flight....

The U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission got spaceborne in the early morning hours of Dec. 7 after a 5:19 a.m. launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Station’s Space Launch Complex-41. Northrop Grumman‘s Space Test Program Satellite (STPSat)-6, the primary mission satellite, is carrying nine...

Arianespace’s latest launch brings Europe’s Galileo constellation to 38 satellites. On Saturday, December 4, a Soyuz launcher successfully orbited two satellites for Europe’s Galileo constellation. The Soyuz rocket launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on Saturday at 9:19 p.m. local time.  After the launch, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed the...

AST SpaceMobile has decided to push back the launch of its demonstration satellite BlueWalker 3, the company announced Monday. AST SpaceMobile had raised this possibility during its recent third quarter financial update.   The company’s stock was down 12% on Monday with the news.  AST SpaceMobile was set to launch with SpaceX between March 1, 2022...

SpaceX launched a batch of 48 Starlink satellites on Thursday evening, with two BlackSky satellites along for the ride. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 6:12 p.m. EST. Stage separation occurred two minutes and 45 seconds into the flight, and the first stage...

Rocket Lab unveiled new details on Thursday for its Neutron medium-lift launch vehicle, which is designed to be fully reusable, specifically for constellation deployment.   CEO Peter Beck explained in a video on Thursday that Neutron will be fully reusable, including first stage and fairings. The fairing design is called “Hungry Hippo,” which has jaws that...