News

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, January 26th at 4:22 a.m. ET (9:22 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 56 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a and one Starlink mission.

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Isar Aerospace and Spaceflight Inc. have signed a multi-launch services agreement — Spaceflight secured one dedicated launch in 2026 to SSO, taking off from Andøya, Norway, and an option to add an additional dedicated launch to occur in 2025.

Spaceflight has more than a decade of launch and in-space transportation services expertise, successfully delivering more than 450 spacecraft across 55 launches, including both rideshare and dedicated launches. The company provides a host of launch and mission management services, from security capacity to providing comprehensive integration and logistics services.

In addition, the company executed the launch of five next-gen Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles which successfully carried more than 50 customer payloads, including cubesats, microsats and hosted payloads, to their desired orbits.

The agreement underlines the trust and growing global interest in Isar Aerospace’s flexible launch service solutions as the company expands into the U.S. market. Spectrum, Isar Aerospace’s completely in-house developed, two-stage launch vehicle, can deliver as much as 1,000 kilograms to LEO and up to 700 kilograms to SSO.

The vehicle design and testing are progressing well, and the company is working towards the first test flight of Spectrum, which is planned for 2023. Since its founding in 2018, Isar Aerospace has raised private funding of more than $180 million and attracted both international commercial and institutional customers.

“We’ve seen an increased demand for flexible and affordable launch options around the globe, but especially for our European-based customers,” said Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight. “We’re very much looking forward to working with Isar Aerospace to help us meet that growing need. They have been successful in securing launch infrastructure and have made significant technological developments over recent years, and we welcome them into our launch vehicle portfolio.”

“We thank Spaceflight for the confidence it has placed in Isar Aerospace’s team and are excited to welcome Spaceflight customers on board Spectrum’s flights! Adding the first U.S.-based company to our international client roster, we clearly see the growing market need for flexible space access and international alternatives. Across the globe, a growing number of vital technologies are dependent on easy access to space and private launch services like Isar Aerospace offer the solution,” said Stella Guillen, chief commercial officer at Isar Aerospace.

AstroForge Inc. has signed a contract with Orbital Astronautics Ltd. (OrbAstro) to fly a 100 kg class spacecraft into deep space for an asteroid survey mission.

The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in late 2023 with Intuitive Machines via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission serves as a prospecting activity and stepping-stone toward AstroForge’s ambitions for asteroid mining.

The OrbAstro ORB-50 satellite platform will host an array of AstroForge payloads associated with assessing asteroids. The spacecraft will use a Lunar slingshot and a Dawn Aerospace propulsion system for the 8 month transit to the asteroid that is in a heliocentric orbit approximately 22 million miles from Earth.

Having recently moved into an 18,000 sq. ft. facility in south Oxfordshire, currently undergoing refurbishment for satellite batch production, OrbAstro is well-aligned with delivering a fleet of asteroid mining spacecraft over the coming years.

“With a finite supply of precious metals on Earth, we have no other choice than to look to deep space to source cost-effective and sustainable materials,” said Matt Gialich, CEO and co-founder of AstroForge. “As we embark on our journey to preserve our planet’s future, we’re grateful to our technology partners like OrbAstro for helping us to become the most efficient, cost-effective asteroid mining solution in the world.”

Dr. Ash Dove-Jay, CEO and Founder of OrbAstro, said, “Deep-space has until now only been within the remit of governments. This is the first fully commercial deep-space mission ever, it is a significant milestone for the space industry. The caliber, speed, and ambition at AstroForge is inspiring – and it is fantastic to forge ahead on this journey together. Beyond being a provider of networks of satellites for various use-cases, a central facet of the OrbAstro roadmap is to deploy space assets over the course of this decade that slash down the difficulties associated with deep-space operations required by companies like AstroForge. The challenge of deep-space communications, and simply knowing where you are and what time it is, are major cost-drivers for deep-space missions that we are working on addressing.”

Co-founded in 2022 by Jose Acain and Matt Gailich, AstroForge will be the first commercial company to venture into deep space. AstroForge was in the Y Combinator W22 cohort and is backed by Initialized Capital, Seven Seven Six, EarthRise, Aera VC, Liquid 2 and Soma.

OrbAstro is a United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Germany based space technology company that builds and supports operations of satellites, with a focus on constellations. With a build schedule of 30+ satellites in 2023, the company is refurbishing its 18,000sqft facility in south Oxfordshire for satellite batch production as it scales, and is building out its own satellite constellation to provide low-latency access & autonomous operations services for its customers satellites. OrbAstro has received support and R&D funding to mature the technologies underpinning its products through the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Innovate UK, and CEOI.

LeoStella has appointed aerospace and technology industry leader Tim Kienberger to succeed Mike Hettich as CEO. Hettich has retired from LeoStella after leading the company since 2019.

LeoStella is a 50-50 joint venture between Thales Alenia Space, a French-Italian aerospace company, and BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY), a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence.

Kienberger takes the helm of LeoStella during a time of significant market growth when the demand for small satellites is expected to triple over the next few years. He will continue this growth and lead the company in developing new products and refining its manufacturing techniques to meet the increasing demand for smallsats.

Kienberger joins LeoStella with three decades of aerospace and defense technology experience, leading market strategy, operations management, program execution and business growth in small spacecraft emerging markets at companies including Boeing and L3Harris. Kienberger has led teams through successful rapid development, launch and operations of small spacecraft constellations while meeting cost, schedule and technical performance goals.

“Tim’s leadership will play a critical role as LeoStella capitalizes on the growing market demand for mission-flexible commercial small satellite products and services at scale,” said BlackSky CEO, Brian E. O’Toole. “His proven experience guiding business growth will be important for the next chapter of success, particularly as LeoStella moves into production on BlackSky’s next generation of satellites.”

“We warmly welcome Tim as the new CEO of LeoStella,” said Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “Teaming up with BlackSky to create LeoStella has been instrumental for Thales’ new space strategy, and we are proud of the many successes and achievements we have accomplished together. Tim’s leadership will be important in addressing new market opportunities as LeoStella emerges as a market leader of smallsat manufacturing and constellation development.”

AstroForge Inc. has signed a contract with Orbital Astronautics Ltd. (OrbAstro) to fly a 100 kg class spacecraft into deep space for an asteroid survey mission.

The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in late 2023 with Intuitive Machines via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission serves as a prospecting activity and stepping-stone toward AstroForge’s ambitions for asteroid mining.

The OrbAstro ORB-50 satellite platform will host an array of AstroForge payloads associated with assessing asteroids. The spacecraft will use a Lunar slingshot and a Dawn Aerospace propulsion system for the 8 month transit to the asteroid that is in a heliocentric orbit approximately 22 million miles from Earth.

Having recently moved into an 18,000 sq. ft. facility in south Oxfordshire, currently undergoing refurbishment for satellite batch production, OrbAstro is well-aligned with delivering a fleet of asteroid mining spacecraft over the coming years.

“With a finite supply of precious metals on Earth, we have no other choice than to look to deep space to source cost-effective and sustainable materials,” said Matt Gialich, CEO and co-founder of AstroForge. “As we embark on our journey to preserve our planet’s future, we’re grateful to our technology partners like OrbAstro for helping us to become the most efficient, cost-effective asteroid mining solution in the world.”

Dr. Ash Dove-Jay, CEO and Founder of OrbAstro, said, “Deep-space has until now only been within the remit of governments. This is the first fully commercial deep-space mission ever, it is a significant milestone for the space industry. The caliber, speed, and ambition at AstroForge is inspiring – and it is fantastic to forge ahead on this journey together. Beyond being a provider of networks of satellites for various use-cases, a central facet of the OrbAstro roadmap is to deploy space assets over the course of this decade that slash down the difficulties associated with deep-space operations required by companies like AstroForge. The challenge of deep-space communications, and simply knowing where you are and what time it is, are major cost-drivers for deep-space missions that we are working on addressing.”

Co-founded in 2022 by Jose Acain and Matt Gailich, AstroForge will be the first commercial company to venture into deep space. AstroForge was in the Y Combinator W22 cohort and is backed by Initialized Capital, Seven Seven Six, EarthRise, Aera VC, Liquid 2 and Soma.

OrbAstro is a United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Germany based space technology company that builds and supports operations of satellites, with a focus on constellations. With a build schedule of 30+ satellites in 2023, the company is refurbishing its 18,000sqft facility in south Oxfordshire for satellite batch production as it scales, and is building out its own satellite constellation to provide low-latency access & autonomous operations services for its customers satellites. OrbAstro has received support and R&D funding to mature the technologies underpinning its products through the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Innovate UK, and CEOI.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully launched the company’s 33rd Electron rocket and first mission from Virginia after an earlier halt in the proceedings due to adverse weather conditions.

The “Virginia is for Launch Lovers” mission lifted off at 18:00 EST on January 24th from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

The mission deployed three satellites to a 550 km orbit for HawkEye 360. Rocket Lab has now successfully deployed a total of 155 satellites to orbit from the Company’s three launch pads across the U.S. and New Zealand.

The successful launch from LC-2 marks the beginning of a new era of responsive launch capability for small satellites from U.S. soil. Built with support from Virginia Space, the Commonwealth of Virginia and NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 is designed to serve the responsive space needs of commercial, civil, defense, and national security customers, supporting up to 12 missions per year.

Combined with Rocket Lab’s private Launch Complex 1 site in New Zealand, the Company’s launch sites can support more than 130 launch opportunities every year, delivering flexibility and rapid launch capability for customers.

The launch of Electron from the NASA-controlled Wallops Flight Facility also marked the introduction of the agency’s autonomous flight termination capability, known as NAFTU (NASA Autonomous Flight Termination Unit). While Rocket Lab has successfully flown its own autonomous system on Electron missions since 2019, NASA developed NAFTU in conjunction with this launch to provide a common system for flight termination for a wide array of launch vehicles at any launch range. Autonomous flight termination capability now being in operation at Wallops can provide faster and cheaper access to space for small satellites by enabling wider launch windows, smaller launch safety corridors, and reduced reliance on ground-based systems.

The “Virginia is for Launch Lovers” mission was the first of three Electron launches for HawkEye 360 in a contract that will see Rocket Lab deliver 15 satellites to LEO in 2023 and 2024. These missions will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of radio frequency monitoring satellites, enabling the company to better deliver precise geolocation of radio frequency emissions anywhere in the world. Supporting Rocket Lab’s vertical integration strategy, Rocket Lab will also supply HawkEye 360 with separation systems produced by Planetary Systems Corporation, a Maryland-based space hardware company acquired by Rocket Lab in December 2021.

Virginia is the first U.S. launch location of the Electron launch vehicle, but it will also be home to the Company’s new larger launch vehicle Neutron, which will be built, tested, launched, and landed within the Wallops Flight Facility in the future. Construction is underway of the Neutron Production Complex as development of the new rocket progresses, thanks to the continuous support from the Commonwealth and Virginia Space.

“Electron is already the leading small orbital rocket globally, and today’s perfect mission from a new pad is testament to our team’s unrelenting commitment to mission success,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “After our busiest launch year yet in 2022 with nine successful missions, what better way to kick off the new year than by launching Virginia-built spacecraft from a Virginia launch site, enabled by our rapidly growing Virginia-based team. This mission has been a real team effort. Thanks to the consistent support of NASA, Virginia Space, the FAA, the Commonwealth and our mission partner HawkEye 360, Rocket Lab is proud to bring a reliable and responsive new launch capability to Virginia’s Eastern Shore.”

“We are grateful to share in the success of today’s launch. Our sixth trio of satellites and our first mid-latitude satellite cluster will broaden the scope of our geospatial insights for our partners around the world,” said HawkEye 360 CEO, John Serafini. “This also marks our first launch in our home state of Virginia, making today’s success even more meaningful. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Rocket Lab and Virginia Space in the months and years ahead.”

“We are honored to support the launch of this historic mission,” said Ted Mercer, CEO and Executive Director of Virginia Space. “In addition to being Rocket Lab’s first and only U.S. launch location, we will also be building rockets and processing their payload right here in Accomack County – something that has never been done in Virginia. Our partnership with Rocket Lab is a unique opportunity for the Commonwealth of Virginia to create long-term economic development opportunities in the form of high-paying jobs, launch viewing tourism, and construction of new facilities on the Eastern Shore.”

Original Rocket Lab posting…

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) January 24th launch attempt is now a ‘no-go,’ due to uncooperative weather conditions — upper level high winds. A new launch attempt will be conducted on January 25th.

The ‘Virginia Is For Launch Lovers’ mission remains that was scheduled to launch on Tuesday, January 24th, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility – a U.S. launch pad for Electron missions that serves government and commercial satellite customers — is scrubbed due to high winds.

The mission is Rocket Lab’s 33rd Electron launch and will eventually deploy three satellites for HawkEye 360, an RF geospatial analytics provider. This upcoming launch is the first of three missions for HawkEye 360 scheduled to be carried out by Rocket Lab in 2023 and 2024. The multi-launch contract to deliver 15 satellites to LEO will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of radio frequency monitoring satellites to better provide geolocation of radio emissions anywhere in the world.

Electron has already delivered 152 satellites to space across 32 missions launched from the company’s private launch site, Launch Complex 1, in New Zealand. Previous Electron missions have deployed satellites for NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, DARPA, the U.S. Space Force and a range of commercial constellation operators.

A live webcast of the launch will stream at this direct link…

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform and the Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 152 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a second launch site in Virginia.

HawkEye 360 Inc. has successfully deployed to orbit the company’s Cluster 6, next-generation satellites aboard the inaugural Rocket Lab Electron flight from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

Communication with the satellites has been established by the company’s operations team. This is the first of three dedicated Rocket Lab USA Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) flights contracted by HawkEye 360.

The Cluster 6 trio of satellites will be the first in the HawkEye constellation to enter an inclined orbit, boosting revisit rates over the mid-latitude regions of the globe. Once Cluster 6 achieves initial operating capability, HawkEye 360 will be able to collect RF data as frequently as once per hour from anywhere on Earth, enabling the company to offer the most timely and actionable RF data and data analytics available on the market.

This successful launch expands HawkEye 360’s constellation to 18 satellites with expanded and improved data collection in the 15 -18 GHz range, exposing new and meaningful insights for customers. These second-generation Cluster 6 satellites hold two payloads for system redundancy and are each equipped to collect VHF, UHF, X-, L-, S-, X-Band, and GPS Interference signals.

“We are happy to report that our Cluster 6 next-generation satellites have reached orbit and we look forward to ramping up operations in the weeks ahead and fully integrating them into our constellation,” said HawkEye 360 CEO, John Serafini. “We are grateful for our valued mission partners, Rocket Lab and the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, who worked alongside our fantastic HawkEye 360 team to make this inaugural Virginia launch a success.”

“We’re immensely proud to have delivered mission success for HawkEye 360,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “With Launch Complex 2, we set out to create a new path to orbit from U.S. soil after more than 30 Electron launches from New Zealand, and what could be more fitting for the first Virginia mission than launching a Virginia-built satellite? We couldn’t ask for better mission partners in HawkEye 360 and Virginia Space, and we look forward to many more missions together.”

Intellian and OneWeb have announced the success of their joint, over-the-air demo using Intellian’s flat panel technology.

At Intellian’s Advanced Development Center (ADC) in Maryland, the demonstration showcased an integrated, small form-factor, Electronically Scanned Array (ESA) user terminal, operating in a live commercial network environment facilitated by OneWeb. The Intellian ESA user terminal achieved the maximum download and upload speeds supported by the OneWeb system in full duplex mode operation, with seamless beam hand-overs and satellite hand-overs.

This milestone validates Intellian’s innovative core technologies ahead of production in Q4 2023. Intellian’s ESA user terminal production will take place at their state-of-the-art factory, providing a streamlined process with exceptional product value, quality, diversity, and scalability.

The highly specialized and experienced team at Intellian helped to deliver and deploy the very first OneWeb commercial service user terminals at rapid speed. With a unique and innovative technology and strategy, Intellian brings to market a diverse portfolio of ESA user terminals designed to address user requirements across enterprise, land mobility, military, government and maritime at unparalleled speed.

Eric Sung, President and CEO Intellian Technologies Inc, said, “Our strategic partnership with OneWeb has been further strengthened as we once again achieve another fantastic milestone together. This over-the-air demonstration validates the strength of our ESA technology and brings us one step closer to launching truly integrated products that all of OneWeb’s commercial customers can benefit from. With our new manufacturing campus also launched in Korea during 2022, we can deliver incredible scale and quality assurance to our partners.”

Massi Ladovaz, Chief Technology Officer at OneWeb, said, “Our partnership and collaboration with Intellian continues to grow and we are excited about the future potential of today’s demonstration. OneWeb’s network is ideal for flat panel user terminals and this has the potential to provide customers with unique benefits that match their connectivity needs. The technology is well suited for residential, government and commercial markets, land-based industries, helping to achieve OneWeb’s ambition to bring low-latency, high-speed connectivity to our customers globally.”

Drawing on decades of experience, Intellian supports partners and their customers by providing world-class support, global distribution, and supply chain capabilities. Intellian’s value proposition is founded on a collaborative approach, working with distribution partners to serve customers globally. By working together, Intellian delivers end-to-end solutions that address the unique needs of regional and vertical market segments, ensuring continued mutual success with their distribution partners.

OneWeb continues to make rapid progress in launching its global coverage network. The company has launched more than 80% of its first-generation constellation, which will offer high-speed, low-latency connectivity solutions. OneWeb has connectivity solutions active today with its distribution partners in Alaska, Canada, the UK, Greenland and wider Arctic area, with expanded services coming online soon across the US, southern Europe, Australia, Middle East and more.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) is proceeding with a launch attempt on January 24th of their first Electron mission from U.S. soil.

The ‘Virginia Is For Launch Lovers’ mission is scheduled to launch Tuesday, January 24th, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility – a U.S. launch pad for Electron missions that serves government and commercial satellite customers. The launch window for the mission extends from 18:00-20:00 EST / 23:00-01:00 UTC.

The mission is Rocket Lab’s 33rd Electron launch and will deploy three satellites for HawkEye 360, a radio frequency geospatial analytics provider. This upcoming launch is the first of three missions for HawkEye 360 scheduled to be carried out by Rocket Lab in 2023 and 2024. The multi-launch contract to deliver 15 satellites to LEO will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of radio frequency monitoring satellites to better provide geolocation of radio emissions anywhere in the world.

As the world’s most frequently launched small orbital rocket, Electron has already delivered 152 satellites to space across 32 missions launched from the company’s private launch site, Launch Complex 1, in New Zealand. Previous Electron missions have deployed satellites for NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, DARPA, the U.S. Space Force and a range of commercial constellation operators.

‘Virginia Is For Launch Lovers’ mission details:

• Launch scheduled for | Tuesday January 24, 2023 (back-up opportunities through early Feb.)
• Launch window | 18:00-20:00 EST
• Launch site | Launch Complex 2, Wallops Island, Virginia
• Customer | HawkEye 360
• Payloads | Three satellites
• Orbit | 550 km LEO

A live webcast of the launch will stream live from T-40 minutes at this direct link…

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform and the Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 152 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a second launch site in Virginia.

The Space Development Agency’s (SDA) resilient layered network of military satellites and supporting elements is now the “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture” or PWSA.

The architecture, formerly known as the “National Defense Space Architecture,” was renamed to more specifically reflect the agency’s mission to deliver needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support terrestrial missions through development, fielding, and operation of a proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) constellation of satellites.

The spiral development and fielding of SDA’s mesh network has matured successfully, but the constellations’ original name did not accurately convey its current scope and purpose. The new constellation name became effective on January 23, 2023.

Now integrated within the U.S. Space Force, SDA continues the integration of its space acquisition and operations into the overall national defense hybrid space enterprise, including pLEO advancements to support no-fail missions such as end-to-end missile warning, missile tracking, and missile defense. Maintaining technological and military advantages in space for the warfighter requires developing a resilient hybrid architecture through an integrated diversification of orbits and proliferation of satellites.

The constellation name change will have no impact to the SDA mission. Leveraging speed, delivery, and agility, SDA will continue to quickly deliver needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support terrestrial missions through development, fielding, and operation of the PWSA.