Launch

Shares in Astra Space dropped sharply from $11.68 per-share at closing on Friday to $8.90 on Monday’s opening after the launch company experienced a launch failure over the weekend that resulted in the loss of a U.S. Space Force test payload.  Astra attempted to launch the 45-feet high Vehicle 0006 at its spaceport in Kodiak, Alaska....

A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on Monday, carrying more than 4,800 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and spacecraft hardware. The ISS confirmed contact and capture at 10:30 a.m. ET.  The cargo Dragon was launched on SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission for NASA at 3:14 a.m....

Gilmour Space Technologies, an Australian rocket company, is teaming up with Exolaunch, a German rideshare provider, to enable better a small satellite launch experience customers. The two companies announced the collaboration Aug. 24 they will provide tailored launch, precise deployment, and in-space transportation services to small satellite operators using Eris, a hybrid launch vehicle, developed...

European launch service provider Arianespace successfully launched 34 satellites on Saturday for OneWeb, bringing the operator’s total fleet to 288 Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation satellites. Arianespace sent the OneWeb satellites into space on a Soyuz rocket (Soyuz Flight ST34) that lifted off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:13 BST on Saturday. OneWeb confirmed that its...

Rocket Lab’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger is set to close, making Rocket Lab a publicly traded company. Shareholders of Vector Acquisition Corporation approved the SPAC merger with Rocket Lab on Aug. 20.  The business combination is set to close on Aug. 25, and the combined company will be known as Rocket Lab USA,...

Arianespace launched the second high-resolution satellite in the new Airbus Defence and Space constellation on Monday on a Vega rocket, along with four rideshare cubesats.  The Vega launch vehicle took off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Monday at 10:47 p.m. Kourou time. The Airbus satellite, Pléiades Neo 4 separated on a sun-synchronous orbit...

Rocket Lab will launch AuroraSat-1 for Finland’s Aurora Propulsion Technologies as part of a rideshare mission scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year, the New Zealand launch service provider announced Monday. Aurora originally scheduled the space junk removal test cubesat to ride on SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket and to be deployed by Momentus‘ Vigoride...

Smallsat launcher Astra reported its first set of financial results since going public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger on July 1.  The company released its second-quarter 2021 results on Thursday. Astra reported a GAAP net loss of $31.3 in the second quarter, and spent $10.5 million on R&D expenses, $18 million on...

The U.S. Space Force has awarded the first on ramp of the Orbital Services Program (OSP)-4 to three emerging smallsat launch providers: ABL Space Systems, Astra Space, and Relativity Space. The Rocket Systems Launch Program Office, part of the Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) Launch Enterprise announced the award on Monday.  This is an...

Earth imagery satellite operator Planet signed a multi-year launch agreement with SpaceX that includes multiple rideshare launches on the Falcon 9 rocket through the end of 2025, the companies announced Thursday morning. Planet’s first launch under this agreement will take place in December, with SpaceX’s “Flock 4x, 44 SuperDoves” Falcon 9 Transporter-3 SSO rideshare mission....