Launch

Last month, Virgin Orbit reached a major milestone with its successful demonstration of the LauncherOne spacecraft, validating the company’s air-launch approach to sending small satellites to orbit. It was the culmination of years of work for Sir Richard Branson’s company, and it marked the first orbital class, air-launched, liquid-fueled rocket to successfully reach space. Since...

Spaceflight Inc. will launch its largest satellite to date at the end of the month, the company confirmed Wednesday. The rideshare company, which is famous for booking entire rockets for large payloads of small satellites, selected NewSpace India to send Brazil’s 700-kilogram Amazonia-1 spacecraft into orbit on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket. NewSpace...

SpaceX deployed another round of Starlink satellites late Monday, but ended its streak of Falcon 9 booster recoveries.  The Falcon 9 rocket took off on Feb. 15 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:59 ET, carrying 60 Starlink satellites. After stage separation, the first stage failed to land...

In-space infrastructure services company Momentus will provide last-mile in-orbit delivery for San Mateo-based startup Xona Space Systems under the terms of a new contract the two companies announced on Thursday. Xona, which describes itself on its website as “a group of space ninjas, engineers, GPS nerds, motorcycle racers, and adventurers,” is designing their own Low-Earth...

NASA has chosen SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch elements of the Gateway, which will be the first long-term orbit outpost of the Moon. The contract, worth $331.8 million, is for a set for May 2024. The launch will take off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The mission will...

Lockheed Martin has selected ABL Space Systems to supply a rocket and launch services to launch from the United Kingdom. The deal is part of the UK Pathfinder Launch program, which is planned to be the first vertical small satellite launch from the United Kingdom. It is set to take off from Scotland in 2022....

Orbital Sidekick has finalized plans for its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation known as GHOSt, which will consist of six 100 kg satellites designed and manufactured by Astro Digital. The satellites will be launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 launches starting in December 2021, and continuing into 2022, with mission management and integration provided by Maverick...

SpaceX will launch NASA’s SPHEREx astrophysics mission, the agency announced Feb. 4. The launch contract is worth $98.9 million, including launch service and other mission-related costs. The mission is targeted for June 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SPHEREx — Spectro-Photometer for the History of...

Richard Branson’s California-based satellite launch company, Virgin Orbit, has added two highly respected space industry veterans to its executive leadership team. The company announced Thursday that it hired former ILS President Kirk Pysher and Janice Starzyk, another former ILS executive who also led commercial strategy for Bryce Space and Technology and United Launch Alliance (ULA)....

SpaceX launched an additional batch of 60 Starlink satellites early on Thursday morning to build up its satellite constellation to deliver low-latency broadband internet service from space. A Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:19 a.m. ET. After stage separation, the first stage...