Commercial Space

Defense Research and Development Canada has launched three formation-flying microsatellites as part of its Arctic surveillance technology demonstration mission.

The rocket company plans to fly its launcher from the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Blue Origin has achieved its goal of becoming an orbital launch player, even as it failed to recover its first-stage booster in the ambitious inaugural flight of its New Glenn rocket.

Led by France’s Tikehau Capital, the late-stage funding round was also joined by a trio of other venture capital (VC) firms.

Funds are also to be used to accelerate the development of Nova, as well as enhancements to private testing and manufacturing facilities, the company said.

Two pioneering commercial lunar landers, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 and Japan's ispace's Resilience, successfully launched early Jan. 15.

To make up ground it is losing to SpaceX, China and others, Europe is looking to infuse greater competition into its space launch industry.

The El Segundo, California-based company’s W-2 capsule carries a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory.

After waiting out high seas downrange of its Cape Canaveral SFS launch site, Blue Origin fueled the two-stage rocket late Jan. 12.

Starlab Space is a U.S.-based joint venture between Airbus and Voyager Space, a Denver-based space station, robotics and satellite development startup.

Launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is planned for Jan. 15 at 1:11 a.m. EST.

An undisclosed vehicle subsystem issue on the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket prompted Blue Origin to scrub the launch shortly after 3 a.m. EST.

Septentrio, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, specializes in high-precision GNSS receivers featuring anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technology.

The contract with D-Orbit includes two launch opportunities and operations, in June and October, on D-Orbit’s Ion spacecraft.

The decrease in funding for the subcontinent’s space startups appears to be part of a natural investment cycle rather than a sign of waning investor interest in the sector.

Liftoff of NG-1 from Space Launch Complex-36 remains targeted between 1-4 a.m. EST.

Hours after NASA laid out a new plan for returning Mars samples to Earth, Rocket Lab said it could do so “faster and more affordably.”

The investment is part of a larger strategic capital and business alliance with Toyota aimed at the “mass production of rockets.”

As part of the agreement, AST SpaceMobile will provide Ligado Networks with $113 million of AST SpaceMobile warrants and usage rights payments.

An FAA airspace advisory is in effect for New Glenn-1 (NG-1) launch attempts from Jan. 6-12 from Cape Canaveral SFS.

“The root cause was identified as a software issue within the ground segment,” Eutelsat said on Jan. 2.

The barge is named Jacklyn after the mother of Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos.

The two agencies are looking for ways to speed up transferring technology developed by federal entities.

“This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch,” said Jarrett Jones, senior VP, New Glenn.

The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, has not released a launch date for its first New Glenn mission.