Photo captured by Satnews from SpaceX video stream. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 successfully launched 23 Starlink smallsats to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is the 19th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, SES 03b mPOWER, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, and nine Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Pho ..read more

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has received a contract from Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing Company, to build eight infrared payloads for the SDA’s Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program.  The FOO Fighter satellite system will test new technologies that could aid in missile defense and will incorporate fire control-quality sensors into a scalable prototype constellation. The satellites represent a new, stand-alone program that will track specific threats not addressed by the existing tracking constellation.  L3Harris will manufacture the in ..read more

Photo captured by Satnews from SpaceX video stream. On Thursday, May 2 at 11:36 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched the Maxar 1 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The next evolution of Maxar’s industry-leading constellation, WorldView Legion is a fleet of high-performance satellites that will dramatically expand the ability to revisit the most rapidly changing areas on Earth to better inform critical, time-sensitive decisions. From defense and intelligence to living maps for navigation, WorldView Legion satellite imagery w ..read more

ACX is the second instrument BAE Systems has been contracted to develop for the GeoXO mission to support environmental monitoring BAE Systems has been selected by NASA to develop the Atmospheric Composition instrument (ACX) that will fly on NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations(GeoXO) satellite constellation. GeoXO is a constellation of three satellites meant to expand on Earth Observations (EO) made by its predecessor, NOAA’s current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series (GOES-R). The mission will continue to gather data in support of key NOAA focus areas, such as ..read more

HOME Magazines Events Perspectives Industry Calendar IN PERSON VIRTUAL Subscribe This marks the first-ever satellite Exolaunch has deployed for NASA, which launched via Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle on April 23, 2024. Artistic rendition of NASA’s ACS3 solar sail spacecraft on-orbit. Image is courtesy of NASA. Exolaunch provided the deployment services for NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) satellite aboard Rocket Lab’s “Beginning of the Swarm” mission. Launch photo is courtesy of Rocket Lab. The liftoff occurred on April 23rd. at 1000 NZT / 2200 UTC from Rocket Lab Launc ..read more

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, May 2 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink small satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 10:23 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 1:17 a.m. ET on Friday, May 3. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Friday, May 3 starting at 9:03 p.m. ET. This is SpaceX’s 30th Starlink flight of the year. The mission will add 23 more satellites to the mega constellation.The 45th Weather Squadron at the Cape forecast about 85 percent chance of f ..read more

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) Program, established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated a $42.45 billion federal investment in internet infrastructure and accessibility. An analysis by ISP Reports reveals a complex landscape of funding that suggests allocations are based on a mix of geographic challenges and infrastructural needs rather than existing connectivity quality or political affiliations. The program aims to ensure that all Americans have affordable high-speed internet access, a cornerstone of President Biden’s “Investing in Amer ..read more

Artistic rendition of the NGP space vehicle — image is courtesy of Northrop Grumman Space Systems Command (SSC) successfully passed a major milestone, completing the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Polar (NGP) Space Vehicle Critical Design Review (CDR) on April 25, 2024. This CDR is the culmination of more than 50 subsystem, mission payload, and space vehicle design reviews, and confirms the detailed design maturity and readiness to proceed with system fabrication, coding, assembly, integration, and test of the space vehicle. This major milestone for the NGP program demonst ..read more

Novaspace anticipates that standardization will drive democratization, catalyzing the fast-paced technological evolution of optical communications and the market. Government-supported standardization efforts, such as the SDA program, have been conducted to drive down costs and enable larger adoption of laser communications technology, which for the moment, remains costly. Several main players are poised to make an entry into the market with SpaceX already announcing their intentions. However, some players may not be compliant with the main laser communications standard. Over the next de ..read more

Artistic rendition of the NGP space vehicle — image is courtesy of Northrop Grumman Space Systems Command (SSC) successfully passed a major milestone, completing the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Polar (NGP) Space Vehicle Critical Design Review (CDR) on April 25, 2024. This CDR is the culmination of more than 50 subsystem, mission payload, and space vehicle design reviews, and confirms the detailed design maturity and readiness to proceed with system fabrication, coding, assembly, integration, and test of the space vehicle. This major milestone for the NGP program demonst ..read more