by David Todd | Dec 3, 2014 | commercial launch services, ESA, SpaceX
The ESA Ministerial meeting held in Luxembourg on 2 December effectively ratified the decisions that resulted from the “horse trading” between the French, German and Italian governments. That is, the planned Midlife Evolution (ME) upgrade to the venerable...
by David Todd | Nov 27, 2014 | commercial launch services, NASA, Virgin Galactic
Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) had decided to shut down its propellant office building hybrid rocket engines in California after Virgin Galactic decided to change its rocket engine from a plastic based propellant burning hybrid built by SNC to one burning a rubber compound...
by David Todd | Nov 27, 2014 | commercial launch services, Seradata News, SpaceX, Technology
The next flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9v1.1 which is tentatively set to launch the Dragon CRS-5 cargo craft by the end of December 2014 may use a fully reusable first stage – bringing it up to the Falcon 9R standard. During some previous Falcon 9 launches, first stages...
by David Todd | Nov 24, 2014 | commercial launch services, Seradata News, Technology
The market for smaller satellites grows strongly, the quest for low cost launches for satellites at the smaller end of the spectrum has led to various concepts to be considered – as least some of which may come to fruition. On the one hand, dedicated...
by David Todd | Nov 24, 2014 | commercial launch services, Satellites
NASA has announced firm-fixed price launch services agreement with Orbital Sciences Corp for the launch of its ICON on board a Pegasus XL air launched rocket. The launch contract is worth circa US$56.3 million. The contract work includes spacecraft processing,...
by David Todd | Nov 18, 2014 | commercial launch services, ESA, Seradata News
Space News reports that, after a long wrangle between the French and German sides over the future of Europe’s launch vehicles, it has now been decided that Europe will develop only the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, and that Ariane 5 ME (Midlife Evolution) upgrade...
