At 1413 GMT on 30 March, a Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 4 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg launch site in California carrying 10 Iridium NEXT satellites for the Iridium Communications firm which are in the process of replacing the original Iridium constellation...
DigitalGlobe, the satellite imaging firm owned by Maxar Technologies (previously known as MDA – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd) has awarded SpaceX a contract to launch the WorldView Legion satellite imaging constellation. The initial block of the...
After a competitive tendering process, the US launch provider, United Launch Services (ULA) has been awarded a US$354,811,947 firm-fixed-price contract for launch services to deliver the AFSPC-8 and AFSPC-12 satellites to their intended orbit. This contract provides...
NASA’s independent report into the Falcon 9 launch failure, which lost Dragon CRS-7 and eight small Flock/Dove satellites on 28 June 2015, has finally been released. It specifically criticises a SpaceX design error – and by implication its chief designer: Elon Musk....
The Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite was successfully launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral at 0533 GMT on 6 March. The launch used a Falcon 9V1.2 FT Block 4 rocket, which was equipped with landing legs and steering grid fins so that its first stage could...
A much-delayed Falcon 9V1.2 FT Block 3 launch, carrying the Astrium (now Airbus DS) built 1,341kg Paz Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, finally took place at 1417 GMT on 22 February, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was launched into a near...
