Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
SpaceX launched Transporter-5 yesterday. That’s non-news for most of you by now, but it’s still worth running through the numbers and firsts of this mission. Transporter-5 had 59 spacecraft on its manifest, ranging from cubesats to hosted payloads to orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs). (F)light work: Transporter-5’s booster (tail name B1061-8) previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, […]
What’s it like micromanaging a SpaceX rideshare? Well, let’s find out… Exolaunch is providing launch and deployment services for 21 satellites aboard today’s SpaceX Transporter-5 mission, which is set to lift off at roughly half past 2 Eastern. Exolaunch provides launch services, makes separation systems, and has certainly earned frequent flier status with SpaceX. The […]
Earlier this week, Astra announced plans to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the United Kingdom. Pending regulatory approvals, Astra hopes to begin launching from the facility by 2023. According to Astra, SaxaVord will expand the company’s capacity at key inclinations and accelerate access to space for customers launching in the UK. One of the key […]
Image: Niall David/Momentus Even if most of us may not want to think about financial markets right now, earnings season is in full swing. Let’s run through four results from this week, bucketed into two categories. Space transportation Momentus ($MNTS) reported $0 in Q1 revenue on Monday and a $26M net loss. There’s a lot […]
Phantom Space has placed an order for 200+ rocket engines from Ursa Major, the two startups announced this week. Reading the fine print: Ursa will supply Phantom with 5,000-lb thrust Hadley engines that are already coming off of the production line, and Ripleys, which will have an order of magnitude more thrust. Phantom will use […]
Innospace, a South Korean rocket startup, has reached an agreement with Brazil to launch the first suborbital test flight of HANBIT TLV in Q4 of this year. Hi, HANBIT: The 15-ton thrust, single-stage hybrid rocket that will be flown from Brazil is but one step in a longer journey. HANBIT TLV is designed to validate […]
Satellogic (NASDAQ:SATL) has signed a multiple launch agreement (MLA) with SpaceX covering the deployment of 68 new Earth observation (EO) satellites. The freshly inked MLA succeeds Satellogic’s current one covering 2022 SpaceX launches. On April 1, SpaceX launched five Satellogic satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit on the Transporter-4 rideshare mission. Satellogic says the launch deals […]
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) yesterday launched its 26th Electron mission and deployed customers’ 34 satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit. Most notably, the “There and Back Again” mission had a secondary goal of plucking the returning Electron booster from the skies with a helicopter. The company’s Sikorsky S-92 did end up catching Electron, but offloaded the booster […]
On Friday, SpaceX flew its 17th mission of the year. Launching from Cape Canaveral, the Starlink 4-16 mission delivered 53 new broadband satellites to space. The mission’s booster (tail name B1062) was previously flown just three weeks prior on the Ax-1 mission. B1062 has also previously launched two GPS spacecraft, Inspiration4, and another Starlink mission. […]
Graphic: Andrew Parsonson German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has won the second and final round of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) microlauncher competition. The award comes with a €11M ($11.7M) check and a requirement to carry 150 kgs of institutional payloads free of charge aboard the RFA One’s first two flights. “We are […]
OneWeb has found another launch provider: NewSpace India, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The two have inked a deal to start launching satellites later this year, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Left in the lurch The LEO broadband constellation developer was launching with Roscosmos…until March. Since […]
BryceTech has released its 2022 Q1 report examining rocket launches and satellite deployment. Who’s leading the race? SpaceX tops the charts with 11 rockets launched and 502 spacecraft deployed. China takes silver this quarter, with eight launches and just 38 spacecraft deployed. Although Roscosmos takes bronze for launches with four, Arianespace takes third for the […]
