Satellite Launch Business

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (Firefly), a provider of economical, and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft and in-space services, have announced that they have been selected by NASA for the award of a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract.

It’s been nearly half a century since humans left footprints on the moon and during that time human space exploration has largely centered on manned low-Earth orbit missions and unmanned scientific exploration. But now, high levels of private funding, advances in technology, and growing public-sector interest is renewing the call to look toward the stars.

The Russian military successfully launched three Strela-3M communications satellites on 30 November 2018 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northwest Russia, according to reports from TASS, the Russian state news agency.

China’s leading WiFi Internet sharing company, LinkSure announced that it will build its LinkSure Satellite Network Project comprising the LinkSure Swarm Constellation System, and said that the company’s first satellite, LinkSure-1, is to be launched in 2019.

The United States National Space Council was re-established by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 after ceasing operations in 1993. The Council works to develop a strategy for national space activities and also to foster co-operation with other countries and space agencies in order to advance the U.S. space agenda and to share information.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) PSLV-C43 lifted off at 0957 hrs (IST) on 29 November 2018 from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, and successfully launched India’s Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) and 30 international co-passenger satellites.

The China Commercial Aerospace Forum (CCAF) 2018, held in Wuhan in late September, was significant for a variety of reasons. Occurring in the latter part of the most dynamic year in Chinese commercial aerospace history, the conference was buzzing with activity and optimism, and saw representatives from both private and government space companies in attendance exchanging ideas and discussing trends.

Arianespace will carry out a Launch Readiness Review (LRR) at the Guiana Space Centre on 3 December 2018 of the Ariane 5 satellite launch vehicle that will loft the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) GSAT-11 communications satellite and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A meteorological satellite, and so authorize the start of operations for the final launch countdown.

South Korea successfully conducted its rocket engine test for the Korean Space Launch Vehicle-II (KSLV-II) on 28 November 2018 in a suborbital launch, clearing the way for the development of its own satellite launch vehicle.

The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, has announced its intention to build a constellation of satellites called Marathon to serve the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) market, as part of its Sphere satellite system.