The first-of-its-kind docking of a service spacecraft with its client spacecraft, in this case of MEV-1 with Intelsat 901, occurred at 0715 GMT on 25 February 2020. This was the first time that two commercial satellites had docked together in-orbit. It was also...
Rocket Lab Rocket Lab has received a launch contract from NASA to carry the CAPSTONE, 12U CubeSat, to the Moon. The CAPSTONE satellite being built by Tyvak and Advanced Space, will be placed into a “near-rectilinear halo orbit” around the Moon. This is the...
US firm Maxar is celebrating the award to it of two orders. Maxar’s SSL division (the former Space Systems/Loral) has been awarded the construction order by the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) communications satellite operator Intelsat for its planned Intelsat...
An Isreali newspace company, NSLComm, has ordered its second satellite from CubeSat manufacturer AAC Clyde Space. The satellite, NSLSat-2, is the second 6U CubeSat the company has ordered from AAC Clyde. It is expected to launch in Q3 2021. The deal is valued at...
Following an announcement on 27 January 2019, QinetiQ is to build the ALTIUS (Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere) satellite for ESA. This project was initiated by the Royal Belgian Institute of Space Aeronomy, and accordingly most...
Start-up launch provider Firefly Aerospace might have “fire” in its title, but it did not want that on its rocket engines. On 22 January, it suffered a short engine bay fire during a hot-fire test of its Reaver Engine, which is planned for use in its Alpha rocket. The...
