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The U.S. Space Force (USSF)’s Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded rideshare integrator SEOPS a contract to integrate six payloads on the upcoming Rideshare 2024-Blaze mission.  For the Blaze mission, SEOPS will provide comprehensive mission management, integration services as well as deployment systems for the six payloads supporting technology demonstrations. This includes one evolved secondary payload...

Atlas Space Operations onboarded the NASA TROPICS mission to its ground segment network to improve data collection for the mission within a rapid timeline of four weeks, the company announced Aug. 1.  The TROPICS constellation of four satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) provides data with space-based storm-sensing technology to inform weather forecasting. The satellites provide...

Ursa Major, one of the upstart developers of rocket motors and engines, surprised the industry on Thursday by appointing former Maxar Technologies CEO Dan Jablonsky as its new top executive, succeeding Joe Laurienti, who is also the startup’s founder and has positioned the company for the next stage of growth. Earlier this year, the Navy...

Orbit Communication Systems is working with Viasat on multi-purpose satcom terminals for airborne platforms, the companies announced Wednesday. The terminals will be designed for a range of mission aircraft, rotary wing and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Orbit plans to introduce the next-generation of airborne satcom systems to integrate across Viasat’s global Ka-band networks, including ViaSat-3...

Satellite data provider Umbra is expanding its business from selling imagery collected by its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, to selling the satellites to customers. Umbra announced its new Mission Solutions line on Wednesday.  The company said it is now offering governments and large multinational corporations the ability to purchase their own satellites, individual components...

Significant charges in the Space business impacted Airbus in its second quarter financial results, as CEO Guillaume Faury detailed changes to the Space business on July 30 to deal with the issues.  Airbus reported its first-half results for 2024 on July 30. Consolidated revenues increased 4% year-over-year with higher commercial aircraft delivered and higher volume...

Northrop Grumman completed the preliminary design review for the 74 satellites it is building for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Beta and Tranche 2 Alpha configurations.  Northrop Grumman is building 38 satellites for the Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL)-Alpha constellation under a contract awarded in October 2023. These satellites are designed to transmit beyond...

SES’s defense subsidiary received a multi-year contract worth $46.8 million to provide managed satellite services to the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). SES Space & Defense announced the contract on Wednesday.  Under the contract, SES will provide Geostationary (GEO) Ku-band satellite services to support the ACC’s remotely piloted aircraft training and testing program....

Methane-tracking satellite operator GHGSat has completed an evaluation process to join NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition program (CSDA). This will make GHGSat’s methane emissions data available for scientific research and non-commercial applications development through an IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) contract. The CSDA program allows NASA to flexibly acquire data from commercial providers for its...

Planetary Systems AI (PSAI) has been selected to participate in the U.S. Space Systems Command’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) lab.  The SDA TAP Lab is a voluntary three-month tech accelerator that works on space domain awareness challenges.  PSAI is focused on cyber-first and AI/ML solutions for space and satellite operators....