Launch

SpaceX launched Transporter-1, the first mission in its dedicated smallsat rideshare program on Jan. 24, carrying 143 satellites total — 133 commercial and government spacecraft and 10 Starlink satellites. This launch set a record for the most spacecraft ever deployed in a single mission. A Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40...

California-based launch and internet service provider SpaceX sent a new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday morning. The rocket carried 60 new satellites to join SpaceX’s constellation, which now totals more than 1,000 satellites operating in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The Falcon...

Virgin Orbit successfully deployed 10 payloads for NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) during the California-based company’s second demonstration of its LauncherOne spacecraft on Sunday, Jan. 17. The LauncherOne was deployed by means of an “air launch” method. A customized 747-400 aircraft named Cosmic Girl took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in New Mexico...

Exotrail had a successful first cubesat mission equipped with ExoMG Hall-effect electric propulsion technology, the company reported Jan. 12. The company completed an in-orbit demonstration mission launched to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on Nov. 7 last year, onboard a Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV rocket. Exotrail nominally ignited its ExoMG electric propulsion system on the...

OneWeb has adjusted its plans for the size of its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation down from a 48,000-satellite constellation to roughly 7,000, the company announced Wednesday.  In May, while the company was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, OneWeb asked the FCC to increase its market access for a constellation of 48,000 satellites. Now, OneWeb is recalibrating...

Intuitive Machines has selected SpaceX to launch its NASA-backed IM-2 Polar Mission to the Moon on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than 2022, the company announced Wednesday.  NASA awarded IM the $47 million contract under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative in October 2020. IM will deliver NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment...

Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket on Thursday, testing upgrades to its crew capsule. This was the 14th New Shepard mission for Blue Origin, the commercial launch service of Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos. The New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket designed to take space tourists and research payloads to the edge...

Airbus revealed Thursday that it has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Skynet 6A project. The project now has permission to move into the next phase, which leads to the Critical Design Review (CDR). Airbus was awarded the Skynet 6A contract in July 2020. The contract signed with the U.K. Ministry of...

Last year, Airbus had the target of selling three of its new flexible OneSat satellites to customers around the world. Between January 1st 2020 and December 30th 2020, it had only sold one and was in danger of missing a key target. But on Dec 31, Airbus signed a two-satellite deal with Intelsat, hitting its target...

On December 23, shortly before the holidays, I received a press release that headlined: “European space and digital players to study build of EU’s satellite-based connectivity system.” As part of this 7 million euro ($8.5 million) deal, the European Commission is asking Airbus, Arianespace, Eutelsat, Hispasat, OHB, Orange, SES, Telespazio, and Thales Alenia Space to...