Satellite Launch Business

Astroscale Holdings Inc., the market-leader in developing a service to remove space debris and secure long-term orbital sustainability, has announced it has entered the assembly, integration and test (AIT) phase of its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission, following completion of rigorous design reviews and subsystem testing. “We are excited …

Scientists and engineers from nearly a dozen Polish universities have teamed up with Poland-based satellite company SatRevolution and Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company Virgin Orbit to establish a new consortium to design and carry out the world’s first dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars. The parties established …

The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Virgin Orbit announced the next step in an exciting new space partnership with the selection of an RAF test pilot to be seconded to the small satellite launch program, pending U.S. and U.K. regulatory approvals. The announcement was made in Long Beach, California, aboard …

By Dr. Bleddyn Bowen We are delighted to publish a regular column of  Dr. Bleddyn Bowen, Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Leicester. In this insight, Bleddyn discusses the concept of a UK National Space Council against a backdrop of Brexit and the current instability of the UK …

Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has announced Astro Digital as the customer for Rocket Lab’s ninth Electron mission, and fifth mission of 2019. The dedicated mission is scheduled to take place during a 14-day launch window opening on 15 October 2019 NZDT (14 October UTC). …

Virgin Galactic has announced a new contract with the Italian Air Force for a research flight on the company’s SpaceShipTwo system during which Italian researchers will actively conduct experiments while they are in space. The contract marks the first time a government department has funded a human-tended research flight on …

Relativity Space has closed a $140 million Series C funding round led by Bond and Tribe Capital. With this $140 million funding round, Relativity is fully funded to become the first company in the world to launch an entirely 3D printed rocket to orbit and enter commercial service in early …

DLR Space Management has commissioned the Bochum space experts at SCISYS Deutschland GmbH to implement a central database for data and information as part of the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking Project (EUSST). The accumulation of debris in space is a problem that is increasingly occupying the United Nations as …

The UK and Australian Space Agencies have agreed to take their cooperation to the next level and to develop a ‘Space Bridge’. The agreement, announced on Tuesday at the UK Space Conference will further the ambitions set out in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two agencies in October …

SES has selected SpaceX as a launch partner to deliver its next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation into space on board Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral. The two companies have disrupted the industry in the past when SES became the first to launch a commercial GEO satellite with …