Launch

Airbus was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the European component of the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) satellite. SMILE will be the first joint satellite mission between the ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), following on from the success of the Double Star/Tan Ce mission which flew...

The Russian military launched a Soyuz-2.1 carrier rocket today, carrying the Meridian communications satellite, according to the Defense Ministry’s Zvezda broadcasting service. The rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s northern Arkhangelsk region at 8:56 a.m. Moscow time, and the satellite separated from the rocket nine minutes later. This was the third launch...

Airbus Defense and Space completed the first step in the construction of the inner structure of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) JUICE satellite. This is the beginning of its Earthly journey through different Airbus sites in Europe (Lampoldshausen, Friedrichshafen and Toulouse) towards final integration. Airbus is building the Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft for ESA,...

OQ Technology, a Luxembourg-based satellite Internet of Things (IoT) company, has signed a contract with GomSpace to implement the Tiger mission. The Tiger mission represents a precursor mission to OQ Technology’s In-Orbit Demonstration satellite MACSAT. The objective of Tiger is to demonstrate the transmission and reception of OQ Technology’s IoT waveform using an existing satellite...

The Space Alliance between Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio signed a contract with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for the initial development of an innovative satellite system dubbed Ital-GovSatCom. This contract paves the way for a program within the scope of the Italian “Space Economy” initiative. The value of the contract was not disclosed. The...

Maxar Technologies will integrate and fly NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument on a 1300-class satellite in Geostationary Orbit (GEO). TEMPO will be the first space-based instrument to provide hourly monitoring of major air pollutants during the daytime across the North American continent at high spatial resolution. TEMPO is a UV-visible spectrometer that will...

Viasat‘s Real-Time Earth (RTE) service achieved a major milestone by providing ground station service support to General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems‘ (GA-EMS) Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite after its successful launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on June 25, 2019. Once in orbit, Viasat’s RTE service provided critical satellite commissioning activities and subsequent operations from two...

OneWeb Satellites – a joint venture of OneWeb and Airbus – opened a high-volume, high-speed satellite production facility in Merrit Island, Florida, near the Kennedy Space Center. The 105,500 square foot production facility, which has two production lines capable of producing two satellites a day, is helping to revitalize Florida’s Space Coast with 250 new high-tech...

India is on its way to the moon. One week after a first attempt was canceled at the last minute, the Chandrayaan-2 mission blasted off at 2:43 p.m. Monday from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s southeast coast, carrying an uncrewed lunar lander and the dreams of a nation. Read More at The New...

Virgin Orbit, the small satellite launch company backed by billionaire Richard Branson, has signed an initial agreement to develop small satellite launch capabilities for the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF). The deal, which is part of the RAF’s Artemis project, will see Virgin Orbit aim to launch hardware provided by Guildford, UK-based Surrey Satellites in...