Launch

Launch and in-space service provider Firefly Aerospace was contracted by imagery and sensing satellite operator Spire Global to send multiple Lemur spacecraft into orbit on Firefly’s Alpha rocket spread out over multiple missions. Spire and Firefly have not publicly announced launch dates or disclosed the length of the contract. Firefly is targeting the inaugural flight...

SpaceX launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites on Sunday, Oct. 18 as it builds out its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to provide internet service.  A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellites took off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:25 a.m. ET. The satellites were deployed about an...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rolled out a new rule on Thursday that it says takes a new, streamlined approach for commercial spaceflight.  The biggest change is that it allows launchers to use a single license for multiple launches and reentries, from multiple launch sites, valid up to five years. It allows for early review...

Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket on Tuesday, and in doing so, set a reusability record for the rocket, and tested a lunar landing system for NASA. Tuesday’s launch marked  the seventh flight for the booster used in the mission, a reusability record for the rocket and for Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos’...

Accion Systems will host its propulsion system, TILE 3, onboard a NanoAvionics rideshare mission. Accion Systems procured this flight as part of a U.S. government-sponsored propulsion program, and launch is expected in late 2021. The nanosatellite for the rideshare mission is based on the NanoAvionics M6P bus and will include several customer payloads that can...

Spaceflight Inc. has signed a Multiple Launch Services Agreement (MLSA) with Earth Observation (EO) company HawkEye 360. Spaceflight announced Oct. 7 that it will provide capacity, engineering, and mission management services to launch HawkEye 360’s Cluster 4, 5, and 6 of its Radio Frequency (RF) mapping satellites.  HawkEye 360 worked with Spaceflight to launch its...

Facebook confirmed to Light Reading that it now operates a satellite equipped with broadband potential. “Arianespace [a satellite launch company] successfully launched a ride-share rocket mission that included a Facebook experimental satellite designed to test ways to improve broadband connectivity,” the company wrote in response to questions. “We believe satellite technology will enable the next...

AeroVironment, Inc. has demonstrated mobile broadband communication in a recent test of Sunglider, a solar-powered High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS). In the Sept. 21 test, the Sunglider broadband communication demonstration linked teams in Tokyo, Spaceport America in New Mexico and Silicon Valley in California using an LTE payload jointly developed by Alphabet’s Loon LLC and HAPSMobile Inc. Using...

Exolaunch has signed a long-term launch agreement with SpaceX to secure capacity on Falcon 9 missions as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program. Exolaunch announced Wednesday it will manifest microsatellites and cubesats on rideshare missions to Sun-Synchronous Orbit in 2020-2021.  The company will provide rideshare mission management, deployment, and integration services to 30 small satellites...

Boeing and the U.S. Space Force revealed Wednesday that the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11+ communications satellite successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This was the first all-digital PDR, which concluded on July 1. Boeing is now ready to proceed to the final design phase, with production beginning next year at the company’s El Segundo...