https://aviationweek.com/themes/custom/particle/dist/app-drupal/assets/awn-logo.svg
Skip to main content
  • Market Sector
    • Aerospace
    • Air Transport
    • MRO
    • Defense and Space
    • Business Aviation
  • Markets
    • Aerospace
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Connected Aerospace
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Manufacturing & Supply Chain
      • Advanced Air Mobility
      • Commercial Space
      • Sustainability
    • Air Transport
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports & Routes
      • Airlines & Lessors
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
    • MRO
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Supply Chain
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Workforce & Training
      • Sustainability
    • Defense and Space
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Sensors & Electronic Warfare
      • Missile Defense & Weapons
      • Supply Chain
      • Budget, Policy & Operations
      • Space
      • Sustainability
    • Business Aviation
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports, FBOs & Suppliers
      • Flight Deck
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
  • Marketplace
  • Services
    • Services
      • Advertising
      • Marketing Services
      • Fleet, Data & APIs
      • Research & Consulting
      • Network and Route Planning
      • Marketplace
  • Store
    • Market Sector

      • Aerospace
      • Air Transport
      • MRO
      • Defense and Space
      • Business Aviation
    • Type View All Products
      • Intelligence Bundles
        • AWIN - Premium
        • AWIN - Aerospace and Defense
        • AWIN - Business Aviation
        • AWIN - Commercial Aviation
      • Market Briefings
        • Advanced Air Mobility Report - NEW!
        • Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
        • Aviation Daily
        • SpeedNews
        • The Weekly of Business Aviation
      • Directories
        • Air Charter Guide
        • Aviation Week Marketplace
        • Route Exchange
        • The Engine Yearbook
      • Data Services
        • AC-U-KWIK
        • Aircraft Bluebook
        • Airportdata.com
        • Airport Strategy and Marketing (ASM)
        • CAPA – Centre for Aviation
        • Fleet Discovery Civil
        • Fleet Discovery Military
        • Fleet & MRO Forecast
        • MRO Prospector
      • Publications
        • Air Transport World
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology - Inside MRO
        • Business & Commercial Aviation
        • CAPA - Airline Leader
        • Routes magazine
        • ShowNews
      • Resources
        • Downloadable Reports
  • Events
    • Recent webinars
    • Events View All Events
      • MRO
        • MRO Americas
        • MRO Asia
        • MRO Australasia
        • MRO Baltics & Eastern Europe Region
        • MRO Europe
        • MRO Latin America
        • MRO Middle East
        • Military Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Symposium (MALMS)
        • Asia Aerospace Leadership Forum & MRO Asia-Pacific Awards
      • Commercial Aviation/A&D
        • A&D Mergers and Acquisitions
        • A&D Programs
        • A&D Manufacturing
        • A&D Raw Materials
        • A&D SupplyChain
        • A&D SupplyChain Europe
        • Advanced Air Mobility
        • Aero-Engines Americas
        • Aero-Engines Europe
        • Aero-Engines Asia-Pacific
        • Aerospace IT
        • Engine Leasing Trading & Finance Europe
        • Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Americas
      • Air Transport
        • CAPA Live
        • Routes Americas
        • Routes Europe
        • Routes World
        • ATW Airline Awards
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit
        • CAPA Americas Aviation & LCCs Summit
        • CAPA Latin America Aviation & LCCs Summit
        • CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit
        • CTC Asia Corporate Travel Summit & Sustainability Expo
        • CAPA World Aviation Outlook Summit
        • GAD Americas
        • GAD World
      • Aerospace and Defense
        • A&D Mergers and Acquisitions Conference (ADMA)
        • A&D Manufacturing Conference
        • Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference (RMC)
        • A&D Programs
      • Awards
        • Aviation Week 20 Twenties
        • Aviation Week Laureate Awards
        • Program Excellence Awards and Banquet
        • CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence
  • About
    • About Aviation Week Network
      • Our Story
      • Content and Data Team
      • Aviation Week & Space Technology 100-Year
    • Contact Us
      • Subscriber Services
      • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
      • Content Sales
      • Events
      • PR & Communications
      • Content Licensing and Reprints
      • FAQ
  • Log In
  • Register
  • My Account
    • Profile
    • Sign Out
  • AWIN Access
  • My cart
    Back to
  1. Defense and Space
  2. Space

Share

Space Sector 2017 Highlights

Graham Warwick December 20, 2017

Launch in Bulk

Indian Space Research Organization

The Indian Space Research Organization orbited 104 satellites on one launch on Feb. 15, setting a world record. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carried the Cartosat-2 satellite as well as 103 passenger spacecraft—including 88 Dove smallsats for Planet—on the flight from the Satish Dhawan Space Center.

Commercial Reusability

SpaceX

SpaceX launched the first reused Falcon 9 first stage on March 20, sending the SES-10 communications satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral, and recovering the first stage—again—with a vertical landing on an unmanned barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Another booster was reflown on a June mission.

Virgin Territory

Virgin Orbit

Virgin Group in March formed a dedicated company, Virgin Orbital, to develop, manufacture and operate the LauncherOne air-launched small-satellite launch vehicle, separating it from human spaceflight unit Virgin Galactic. First launches from the modified Boeing 747-400 carrier aircraft are planned for 2018.

Blue Origin
New Glenn

Beijing’s Space Station

China Manned Space Engineering

China launched its first resupply spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, to the Tiangong-2 space laboratory on April 20, on the second flight of the Long March 7 launch vehicle, from Wenchang space center on Hainan island. The unmanned freighter docked with the ministation on April 22.

Secret Spaceplane’s Long Stay

U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force’s Boeing X-37B reusable spaceplane touched down at NASA Kennedy Space Center on May 7 after spending 718 days in space. The fourth and longest Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) flight was the first to land back in Florida, following launch from Cape Canaveral on May 20, 2015, on an Atlas V booster. The fifth OTV flight was launched from Kennedy on Sept. 7.

DARPA’s Spaceplane

Boeing

DARPA in May selected Boeing to build and fly the XS-1 reusable experimental spaceplane, with Aerojet Rocketdyne providing propulsion. Ground tests of the Phantom Express vertical-launch/horizontal-landing reusable first stage are planned by 2019, and 10-15 flights for 2020, ultimately orbiting a payload on an extendable upper stage.

Smallsat Startup

Rocket Lab

Startup Rocket Lab’s Electron small launch vehicle made it into space but not to its intended elliptical low Earth orbit, on its first flight on May 25, from the company’s Mahia Peninsula Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. A second flight was planned for late 2017, but has been delayed until early 2018 due to technical issues and poor weather.

Next-Gen Ariane

ArianeGroup

The European Space Agency in July signed up for two dual launches of Galileo navigation satellites as the first customer for Europe’s Ariane 6 launcher. Eumetsat in September placed an option to launch a Metop-SG weather satellite on an Ariane 6. First launch of the Ariane 6 is scheduled for July 2020.

Cassini Finale

NASA

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft ended its 13-year exploration of Saturn on Sept. 15 with a deliberate plunge into the atmosphere of the gas giant to prevent potential contamination of the planet’s moons—including Titan and Enceladus, whose oceans are targets for future exploration.

Dream Rekindled

NASA

Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser winged spaceplane returned to flight on Nov. 11 with a 60-sec. gliding flight to a landing at Edwards AFB, California, after being carried aloft by a Boeing Chinook helicopter to an altitude of more than 12,300 ft. First launch atop an Atlas V booster, to carry cargo to the International Space Station, is planned for 2020.

Stratolaunch On a Roll

Stratolaunch Systems

Stratolaunch Systems conducted the first taxi tests of its six-engine, air-launch carrier aircraft on Dec. 17 in Mojave, California. Powered by six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines, the twin-fuselage, 385-ft. span aircraft is designed to air-launch small to medium-size satellites into low Earth orbit and is expected to make its first flight in early 2018.

Previous
Next

The drive toward commercial spaceflight continued in 2017, with progress in reusability and smallsat launchers, as well as a new generation of large launch vehicle. We review some of the year’s milestones.

Graham Warwick

Graham leads Aviation Week's coverage of technology, focusing on engineering and technology across the aerospace industry, with a special focus on identifying technologies of strategic importance to aviation, aerospace and defense.

Aviation Week Intelligence Network
Monitor the market and connect your business to the people, programs and proprietary data driving the Aerospace & Defense market - only available with AWIN.

ASD_AWIN_thumbnail_270

Stay Connected.
Stay Informed
Grow Your Business.

Learn How

Follow us on

Markets

  • Aerospace
  • Air Transport
  • MRO
  • Defense and Space
  • Business Aviation

Products

  • AWIN Intelligence Bundles
  • Market Briefings
  • Publications
  • Data Services
  • Directories
  • Resources

Contact Us

  • Subscriber Services
  • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
  • Content Sales
  • Events
  • PR & Communications
  • Content Licensing and Reprints
  • FAQ

Other Resources

  • Aviation Week Marketplace
  • Knowledge Center
  • Newsletters
  • ShowNews
  • Advertising - Media Kits
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC.
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use