Launch

Production of the first Vulcan Centaur rocket at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) factory in Decatur, Alabama continues, with shipment to the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida scheduled for late next year for processing in preparation for its first launch in 2021. The Department of Defense (DoD) has established a selection strategy to ensure a...

Kleos Space, a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance Sata-as-a-Service (DaaS) company, changed its launch provider to Spaceflight for the Scouting Mission1 satellites, which will now launch into a 37-degree inclination. Following the recent postponement of the launch of Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites, the company investigated other available launch options, and agreed that Spaceflight would meet immediate market...

Rocket Lab revealed plans to recover and re-fly the first stage of its Electron launch vehicle. The move aims to enable Rocket Lab to further increase launch frequency by eliminating the need to build a new first stage for every mission. Work on Rocket Lab’s Electron first stage reuse program began in late 2018, at the...

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V rocket today, carrying AEHF-5 — the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The rocket was lifted off at about 6:13 a.m. EDT from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload is...

SpaceX successfully launched a Boeing-built 702 digital satellite called AMOS-17, using a Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida at about 7:00 p.m EDT. The satellite was built for Spacecom, the Israeli satellite operator, and it will enter service in a few months after on-orbit tests and moving to its final position...

Arianespace successfully launched Intelsat 39, which will provide video distribution and connectivity services for mobile network operators, enterprises, governmental entities, as well as aeronautical and maritime service providers operating in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Manufactured by Maxar Technologies and launched aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center in...

Spaceflight purchased the first commercial launch of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), scheduled for launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India later this year. Spaceflight has already sold-out the entire manifest for this secured SSLV-D2 launch with...

Arianespace has revealed its GO-1 mission, a rideshare service for small satellites directly entering Geostationary Orbit (GEO). The mission will take place in the first half of 2022, and aims to carry more than 4,500 kilograms (kg) of payloads. For this mission, an Ariane 64 rocket will be used, and will take off from Guiana Space...

Spaceflight managed the procurement, integration, and mission management services for three spacecraft on Rocket Lab’s next mission aboard an Electron rocket. This mission, called “Look Ma, No Hands” by Rocket Lab, represents Spaceflight’s second of several launches scheduled with Rocket Lab this year, and follows the launch of seven spacecraft on its inaugural “Make it Rain”...

A Mishap Investigation Board appointed by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) identified the most likely cause for an instrument issue aboard NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-17 satellite that launched March 1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. During post launch testing of the satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI),...