Launch

While SpaceX dominated launch activity in 2023, other established and emerging launchers including Relativity Space, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Rocket Lab see an abundance of opportunities in the market. Launch execs spoke on a Monday panel at SATELLITE 2024 to share what they’re seeing in the industry, as well as best...

The first two WorldView Legion satellites have arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and could be launched as soon as April. Maxar Space Systems, which built the satellites for Maxar Intelligence, announced the news on Monday morning. SpaceX will launch the satellites in a Falcon 9 mission.  Monday’s news comes after a long...

SpaceX’s Starship rocket successfully launched to space for the first time and maintained a suborbital trajectory before it was destroyed while attempting to return to Earth on Thursday morning. The third flight test progressed farther than either of the previous flight tests.  Thursday’s test took place just one day after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...

Rocket Lab launched the fourth satellite for Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR) company Synspective.  Rocket Lab launched the mission on an Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 4:03 a.m. on March 13 local time, and 11:03 a.m. EDT on March 12. The mission, “Owl Night Long” is a reference to the...

Exotrail’s orbital transfer vehicle successfully deployed its first passenger in orbit, completing the demonstration of its new satellite delivery service, “spacedrop.” Launched in November 2023 aboard the SpaceX Transporter 9 mission, Exotrail conducted this delivery mission with the French Space Agency (CNES) and other space surveillance and tracking (SST) partners.  The “spacevan” orbital transfer vehicle...

SpaceX launched 53 payloads in the Falcon 9 Transporter-10 smallsat rideshare mission, SpaceX’s first rideshare mission of 2024. The mission launched from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 4 at 2:05 p.m. PT. This was the tenth dedicated rideshare mission organized by SpaceX. Aboard the Transporter-10 mission were...

SpaceX successfully launched a telecommunications satellite for Indonesia, Merah-Putih-2, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday, Feb 20. Merah-Putih-2, named after Indonesia’s flag colors, was designed to improve connectivity in the country.  Thales Alenia Space built the satellite, which was modeled after the Spacebus 4000B2 platform, and it provides at least 32 gigabits per second of...

Astroscale Japan has reached a milestone with the successful launch of its debris inspection demonstration satellite, ADRAS-J. Rocket Lab launched the satellite from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on Feb. 18. The ADRAS-J spacecraft was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration...

The Department of Defense confirmed late Wednesday that six demonstration satellites launched earlier that evening for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Space Development Agency (SDA)  successfully reached orbit and have begun initial testing and checkout. The final four Tranche 0 Tracking Layer and the two Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites will...

Intuitive Machine’s IM-1 mission lunar lander is en route to the Moon after a successful launch on a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket early Thursday. The lunar lander, a Nova-C class named Odysseus, was commissioned in space after establishing a stable attitude, solar charging, and radio communications contact with the company’s mission operations center in Houston....