Satellite Launch Business

Axelspace has announced that the launch of the GRUS-1 satellite is scheduled for 27 December 2018, the first satellite of a future constellation. SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT will in partnership provide ground station services for GRUS satellite by using SKY Perfect JSAT’s owned and operated ground station at the …

U.S. small satellite launch company Rocket Lab has launched its third orbital mission of 2018, successfully deploying satellites to orbit for NASA. The mission, designated Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 , took place just over a month after Rocket Lab’s last successful orbital launch, ‘It’s Business Time.’ Rocket Lab has …

On Tuesday, 18 December 2018, and Arianespace Soyuz launch vehicle will lift off for the 20th time from Europe’s spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre (GSC), carrying the CSO-1 security and defence Earth-observation satellite for the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) and the French defence procurement agency DGA. This will …

Virgin Galactic, the private spaceflight company founded by Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson achieved success on 13 December 2018 after its SpaceShipTwo Unity (VSS Unity) reached suborbital space for the first time over the Mojave Desert in California, United States. VSS Unity reached an altitude of 82.7 kilometres near …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a Presidential decree on 12 December 2018 that formally establishes the Turkish Space Agency, along with its roles and missions. The decree ends a long road for the efforts in creating the agency with the process disrupted by the political instability resulting from the …

The Egyptian government has received a second extension from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to fill its orbital slot with a military communications satellite in an unprecedented and likely controversial decision by the international organisation, according to reporting in Space Intel Report. In 2016 the ITU granted its first extension …

Inmarsat has entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) to be the first commercial customer to place an order for the new H3 launch vehicle. The maiden flight of H3 is scheduled for 2020 with Inmarsat planning to deploy the new launch vehicle after 2022. This is …

Japanese New Space Earth observation company Axelspace Corporation has completed a Series B funding round raising approximately 2.58B JPY (U.S.$22.8 million). The round sees the allocation of new shares to the lead investor 31VENTURES – Global Brain – Growth I Joint Venture (managed by Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and Global …

Chinese New Space Internet of Things (IoT) satellite communications company Commsat had seven small satellites launched as a rideshare on board a Long March-2D launch vehicle together with two Earth observation satellites for Saudi Arabia from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on 7 December 2018. The seven …

Saudi Arabia’s Earth observation satellites, SaudiSat-5A and SaudiSat-5B, were successfully launched on board a Long March 2D launch vehicle on Friday, 7 December 2018, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) in Northwest China at 04:12 UTC. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) developed and manufactured …