Satellite Launch Business

Scottish rocket manufacturer and orbital launch services provider Orbex, is to build and operate the first vertical satellite launch site on UK mainland, the company said. The project will make Orbex the first European launcher company to also manage a dedicated spaceport.

After over three years, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launched to space again carrying US military payloads as part of the USSF-44 mission to a geosynchronous Earth orbit. Falcon Heavy consists of three modified Falcon 9 first stage boosters.

Terran Orbital Corporation, a satellite-based solutions company, announced that it has entered into a note and warrant purchase agreement pursuant to which Terran Orbital received a $100 million investment from Lockheed Martin in exchange for convertible notes and warrants issued by Terran Orbital

Four South Australian companies are putting the final touches on the VS03 mission that will launch a rocket and state-of-the-art payloads to space from South Australia before the end of the year. The companies; Southern Launch, ATSpace, Asension and Inovor Technologies have collaborated on the mission which will see an ATSpace ‘Kestrel I’ rocket launched from the Southern Launch Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in November.

Australian in-space transportation and logistics startup Space Machines Company (SMC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global launch services company Arianespace, to study the available options to ensure an optimal compatibility between the launchers and SMC’s OTV family.

Environment information services enterprise NorthStar Earth & Space, stated that the first three spacecraft of its 24-satellite constellation dedicated to commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) will be among space-to-cloud data and analytics company, Spire Global’s satellite payloads to be launched by Virgin Orbit in mid-2023.

CYSEC, a European company specializing in data protection, in particular confidential computing, has announced raising €2m with the support of Karista. The company has earmarked the additional funding to spur the company’s growth in the NewSpace market, where it already has a large footprint.

Space launch systems operator Virgin Orbit (VO), and the Luxembourg Minister of Defence signed a Letter of Intent to begin the process towards developing responsive space capabilities inclusive of a Luxembourg-based mobile launch infrastructure available for NATO partners, and other Allies across the European continent, VO said. As part of the agreement, VO will assess how such a space capability could be based in the country and optimized for various needs. 

Firefly Aerospace, a launch, spacecraft, and in-space services company, has announced that its Alpha FLTA002 mission successfully reached orbit and deployed customer payloads and that former NASA Administrator James Bridenstine would be joining the Company’s Advisory Board.

Myriota, a secure, low-power satellite connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT) company, has announced an agreement with ISILAUNCH to send Kanyini into orbit. This will kickstart its ambitious mission to help take care of people and the planet. Under the Launch Services Agreement, Myriota has booked a spot for South Australia’s home-grown satellite to launch on a SpaceX Transporter mission in 2023.