Japan’s SoftBank has re-invested in OneWeb, the satellite communications company that was sent into Chapter 11 nine months ago after the Tokyo-based holding company withdrew its support.
Airbus says it has completed the Preliminary Design Review on the UK’s new Skynet 6A military communications satellite. The review occurred in November and was completed virtually due to the restrictions in place because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Airbus announced Jan. 14.
Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for NASA’s deep-space crewed Orion spacecraft, has completed assembly and testing of the capsule earmarked for a flight test in November and transferred possession to NASA.
Blue Origin credits a team of experienced industry partners with its success so far as a competitor to build NASA’s lunar Human Landing System to shuttle future astronauts between lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface.
Blue Origin tested an upgraded New Shepard suborbital launch system on Jan. 14, sending the uncrewed, six-passenger capsule to an altitude of 347,568 ft. before it made a parachute return to the West Texas desert.
Publicly traded space-related stocks received a proverbial booster shot this week when a popular investment manager unveiled a new electronically traded fund focusing on space.
SpaceX’s latest Dragon International Space Station resupply mission concluded late Jan. 13 with the first splashdown off the U.S. East Coast, delivering a 4,400-lb. cargo rich in time-sensitive scientific research.
An Italian startup focused on the rapidly growing ground-segment-as-a-service market, Leaf Space, has raised €10 million ($12.15 million) in a Series A venture capital round, the company announced Jan. 13.
Intuitive Machines has for a second time selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the launch of a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission lander to the Moon.
After a one-day weather delay, SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon resupply capsule departed the International Space Station early Jan. 12 for a first-ever commercial atmospheric re-entry and parachute descent off the Florida coast with a 4,400-lb. scientific and equipment return payload.
Adverse weather Jan. 11 prompted SpaceX to delay the first-ever attempt by a NASA-contracted commercial International Space Station resupply mission to return to Earth for an Atlantic Ocean splashdown off Florida’s east coast with a 5,200-lb. cargo that includes science experiments.
FAA and NASA have pledged to coordinate their standards and to work together on commercial space launch and re-entry, point-to-point suborbital transportation, spaceports, airspace design and a host of other issues now that the era of commercially licensed human spaceflight has begun.
Virgin Orbit will make a second attempt to reach orbit with the LauncherOne small satellite rocket on Jan. 13, with backup launch windows available later in the month in the event of a delay.
Following its record-setting 26 launches in 2020, SpaceX kicked off the new year with delivery of the Turksat 5A broadband satellite into orbit on Jan. 7.
Arianespace is willing to operate microlaunchers if the opportunity arises, either as a way to meet demand or as proof of concepts for heavier launchers, CEO Stephane Israel said.
