Satellite Launch Business

Kenya’s first indigenously-built satellite – First Kenyan University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight (1KUNS-PF) – has been completed and handed over to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from where it will be deployed into orbit. The 1KUNS-PF Cubesat is the first satellite developed …

Rocket Lab has successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing. Electron lifted-off at 14:43 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Following successful first and second stage burns, Electron reached orbit and deployed customer …

How do we kickstart a space-based economy that includes everything from communications, orbiting satellites, clean energy, and asteroid mining? Here, planetary scientist Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida lays out a proposed roadmap to get there. This essay was originally published by Aeon on January 9, 2018, and is …

The Chinese launch of what many believe to be a military reconnaissance satellite, the Ludikancha Weixing-3 (LKW-3) – or Land Surveying Satellite 3, on January 13, 2018, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) may have also included the SaudiSat-5B Earth observation satellite, according to a report in SpaceFlight Insider. …

Xiaoru Cai, the Chairman of China’s Tatwah Smartech Co. Ltd., took part in a ceremony on January 15, 2018, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, announcing a U.S.$30 million investment in SupremeSAT, the only Sri Lankan satellite communications company. The investment is intended to help SupremeSAT expand its geographical reach with its …

Cambodia has signed a framework agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation for the acquisition of a communications satellite, along with its associated ground infrastructure and launch. The satellite agreement was one of nineteen agreements made between Cambodian and Chinese officials during a bilateral trade meeting on January 11, 2018, …

The recent announcement by China to orbit ten Earth observation satellites to solidify its sovereign claim for the South China Sea is a harbinger of the competitions to come for the control of other vital strategic waters across the globe. ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, examines this phenomenon …

Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, announced on January 4, 2018, that it has been awarded a contract for a second Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-2). The vehicle was ordered by Intelsat S.A. to provide life extension services for an Intelsat satellite. Orbital ATK is now producing …

As another year of successful Arianespace launch activity draws to a close, two satellites for its first mission of 2018 are now in French Guiana – positioning them for liftoff on January 25, 2018, from the Spaceport on a heavy-lift Ariane 5. Arriving December 22, 2017, was SES-14 for Luxembourg-based telecommunications …

Angosat-1, Angola’s first communications satellite has re-established contact with its ground station in Luanda. The contact was confirmed by ANGOP (Agencia Angola Press) via a telephone call with the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Information technology, Manual Homan. Homan said that it was normal for such an event to …