Satellite Launch Business

Nanoracks, a leading provider of commercial access to space, completed its 17th CubeSat deployment mission from the International Space Station (ISS) using commercially developed and operated hardware. This mission included satellites launched to the International Space Station on both Northrop Grumman’s NG-12 flight and the SpaceX CRS-19 mission. The deployer …

By Ewan Lawrenson On 7 February 2020, global communications company OneWeb successfully launched 34 satellites aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It was the second successful launch in OneWeb’s campaign to build its phase one constellation of 648 satellites to deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity. …

Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos, met for a status check on the development of the two nations’ cooperation in space. The meeting was hosted by the French ambassador to Russia, Pierre Levy, at the …

On Tuesday, 18 February  2020 at 22:18 UTC (Universal Time Coordinates), Arianespace successfully launched two satellites using an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana: JCSAT-17 for the Japanese operator SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, and GEO-KOMPSAT-2B for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). …

Exotrail, a French company dedicated to providing innovative on-orbit transportation solutions for the small satellite market, announced on 19 February 2020 that they have signed a contract with AAC Clyde Space, Europe’s leading nanosatellite solutions specialist. Exotrail will equip them with cutting-edge propulsion solutions for their customers, including global satellite …

Curtin University and Tokyo-based start-up company Space BD Inc. will together launch two CubeSat satellites into orbit from the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo on the International Space Station (ISS). Space BD Inc. is the official service provider selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency  (JAXA) in the area of ISS utilisation …

On Monday, 17 February 2020, at 10:05 am EST, or 15:05 UTC, SpaceX launched its fifth Starlink mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Starlink satellites deployed in an elliptical orbit approximately 15 minutes after liftoff. Prior to orbit raise, SpaceX engineers …

Swiss space startup Astrocast announced the signing of a new contract with Spaceflight for the launch of 10 additional Internet of Things (IoT) nanosatellites. This new contract, announced 6 February 2020, will be Astrocast’s sixth launch booked with Spaceflight. Both its test and fully functional satellites were also launched with …

The Queensland government of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has released the Queensland Space Industry Strategy 2020-2025, the Australian state’s plan to create even more jobs in more industries for Queenslanders. Queensland’s Minister for State Development Cameron Dick said the AUS$8 million (US$5.38 million) investment will accelerate Queensland’s space industry into a new …

Rocket Lab has been selected by NASA as the launch provider for a small satellite mission to the same lunar orbit targeted for Gateway – an orbiting outpost astronauts will visit before descending to the surface of the Moon in a landing system as part of NASA’s Artemis program. The …