Satellite Launch Business

Chinese New Space satellite launch company iSpace successfully launched its SQX-1Z sub-orbital launch vehicle on 5 September 2018 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China. iSpace is a Chinese New Space company headquartered in Beijing and established in 2016. The company also operates a research centre located in …

The AngoSat-2 satellite is to be developed by Russia for Angola to replace the failed AngoSat-1 satellite. The development the satellite has already begun in the Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, TASS reports citing a source in the rocket and space industry. The AngoSat-1 satellite was developed for Angola …

Indonesia’s space agency, Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional (LAPAN), has announced that it intends to launch an indigenous space launch vehicle (SLV) by 2040 with the ability to insert a 1-ton satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), according to SpaceTech Asia. The announcement was made at a briefing in preparation …

The EgyptSat-A, also known as MisrSat-A, high-resolution Earth observation satellite is due to be launched by Russia in November 2018, just as the threat to Egypt’s borders and unrest in the Sinai Peninsula is becoming more acute. Egyptian security and military forces are under growing pressure to stop insurgent and …

Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) is engaging in the emerging competition among other states such as South Australia to establish itself as Australia’s leading New Space hub by funding seven NSW space startups to attend the AusTrade Landing Pad last week. AusTrade Landing Pad, which was held in San Francisco, offered …

KhalifaSat, the UAE Earth observation system that is also the first Emirati-built satellite, will be launched from Japan on 29 October 2018. KhalifaSat has been in development since 2013, and will be lofted into orbit from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan. The earth observation satellite will join the UAE’s …

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a small launch vehicle that weighs no more than 100 tons that can loft a 500 kg satellite into a 500 km orbit. ISRO is currently earning about U.S.$40 million annually through launching small satellites for foreign customers, and aims to increase …

The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center has signed contracts for the production of 12 Angara-A5 heavy-lift launch vehicles. They are to be produced at the Center’s Production Association Polyot enterprise in the city of Omsk. According to Nikolai Sevastyanov, Khrunichev Space Center Chairman, Board of Directors, 12 launch …

The Communications Directorate of Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center has informed RIA Novosti that the next commercial launch of the Proton rocket with non-Russian satellites is scheduled to take place in March 2019. The Eutelsat-5West and MEV-1 satellites will be put into orbit. Also in February next year, …

Now that the euphoria over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that India will launch its first Vyomanaut (derived from the Sanskrit word for space, or vyoma) into Earth orbit by 2022 has passed, the political contours of the announcement are beginning to take shape. A number of critics are pointing …