Tag: commercial-space
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Smallsat companies teaming up on deorbit experiment
Artist’s concept of a satellite manufactured by Millennium Space Systems. Credit: Millennium Space Systems TriSept Corp. has announced plans for a commercial technology demonstration mission set for launch next year on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle to test a deployable conductive tape, made by Tethers Unlimited, that could help small satellites more quickly fall out…
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ICEYE releases first sub-meter radar imagery from a microsatellite
ICEYE radar satellite imagery that has been acquired and processed at 0.5-meter ground sample distance, featuring a port container terminal near Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Credit: ICEYE ICEYE, a Finnish company that builds and operates a growing fleet of commercial Earth-observing spacecraft, has released the first radar image from a microsatellite with a resolution of less…
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Sierra Nevada selects ULA’s Vulcan rocket to launch Dream Chaser missions
The Vulcan Centaur rocket configured to launch Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser spaceplane will fly with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage and four strap-on solid rocket boosters. Credit: United Launch Alliance Sierra Nevada Corp. has booked at least six launches on United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket to carry Dream Chaser supply ships into orbit…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket takes off with the Amos 17 satellite
These photos taken Aug. 6 show the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Israeli-owned Amos 17 communications satellite, backdropped by dreary skies after thunderstorms passed through Cape Canaveral earlier in the day. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 7:23 p.m. EDT (2323 GMT) on Aug. 6 from Cape Canaveral’s…
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Rocket Lab to begin booster recovery experiments later this year
Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand, set for Friday, will carry a data recorder to measure the aerothermal environments encountered by the Electron launcher’s first stage during descent back into the atmosphere, information engineers say is crucial to successfully achieving the company’s newly-announced plan to recover and reuse the booster. The U.S.-New Zealand…
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SpaceX successfully launches Israeli-owned telecom satellite
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with the Amos 17 communications satellite at 7:23 p.m. EDT (2323 GMT) Tuesday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX carried the Israeli-owned Amos 17 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral into orbit Tuesday on top of a Falcon 9 launcher, nearly three years after…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket takes off from French Guiana
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the Intelsat 39 and EDRS C communication satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. Arianespace’s live video webcast will begin approximately 15 minutes before launch and will be available on this page.
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Two communications satellites ride Ariane 5 rocket into geostationary transfer orbit
An Ariane 5 rocket blasts off with the Intelsat 39 and EDRS C satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin A U.S.-built commercial communications craft owned by Intelsat and a new node for Europe’s laser data relay satellite network rocketed into orbit Tuesday from Kourou, French Guiana, on top of…
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Photos: Amos 17 satellite encapsulated for launch
The Amos 17 satellite during encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 payload fairing. Credit: Spacecom Ltd. / SpaceX These photos show the enclosure of the Boeing-built Amos 17 commercial communications satellite, owned by the Tel Aviv-based operator Spacecom Ltd., ahead of liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. Ground crews from SpaceX and…
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Second node ready to join European laser relay network
The EDRS C spacecraft undergoes testing at an Airbus Defense and Space facility. Credit: ESA – S. Corvaja A German-built satellite designed to relay data between other orbiting spacecraft and ground stations using laser beams is set for launch in tandem with an Intelsat communications craft Tuesday from Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5…