Launch

Phase Four introduced Maxwell, the first turn key plasma propulsion solution for small satellites. According to the release, Maxwell combines a complete propellant management system and Phase Four’s proprietary Radio Frequency (RF) plasma thruster into a compact form factor. Designed with ease of integration and operation in mind, Maxwell aims to expand what’s possible for small...

China launched another BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 2:09 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, the satellite was sent to Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). It is the 46th satellite of the BDS satellite family and the 21st satellite of the...

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying 24 satellites as part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission launched from Launch Complex 39A, Tuesday, June 25 at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four NASA technology and science payloads that will study non-toxic spacecraft fuel, deep space navigation, “bubbles” in the...

The Intelsat 39 geosynchronous communications satellite safely arrived at the Arianespace launch base in Kourou, French Guiana, after completing final delivery checkouts at Maxar’s Palo Alto, California manufacturing facility. Intelsat 39 is the 52nd satellite built by Maxar for their long-term customer, Intelsat. The Intelsat, Arianespace, and Maxar teams in Kourou will now prepare the...

Arianespace successfully launched an Ariane 5 rocket on June 20 at 6:43 p.m. (local time) from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch vehicle carried Eutelsat‘s EUTELSAT 7C satellite and AT&T‘s T-16 satellite. Built by Maxar Technologies, EUTELSAT 7C is a high-power broadcast satellite for markets in Africa, Europe, the...

A Ball Aerospace satellite used for NASA‘s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) is ready for launch, scheduled for no earlier than June 24 on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Ball built the small satellite, which contains NASA’s first opportunity to demonstrate a new “green” propellant and propulsion system in orbit — an alternative to conventional chemical...

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researchers partnered with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to shine a light on the impact of the solar atmosphere on the interplanetary medium between the Earth and the Sun. According to NASA, “it’s a go” for the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, which is a cooperative effort between SwRI...

SpinLaunch was awarded a responsive launch prototype contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), facilitated by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). SpinLaunch is developing a kinetic energy-based launch system that aims to provide the low-cost orbital launch services for the rapidly growing small satellite industry. In 2018, the company received $40 million in a Series A...

Six global launch providers are drawing the same conclusion as they address a panel audience on a muggy spring afternoon in Washington, D.C.: Not all of their rockets will be servicing commercial customers over the next few years. “I don’t think there’s actually room for all of us here,” says Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO...

At the 2019 SATELLITE Show in May, which drew 16,000 or so attendees, it was impossible to miss Blue Origin’s life-size New Glenn photos plastered to the rectangular columns outside of the main ballroom in the Washington Convention Center, an enticing distraction for those who waited an hour or more to attend Vice President Mike...