Tag: Launch Vehicle Platforms
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Rocket Lab Secures Contract from Leidos to Launch Four HASTE Missions
Rocket Lab USA, one of the global leaders in launch services and space systems, announced it has signed a contract with Leidos to launch four HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) missions. The missions, scheduled across 2024 and 2025, will lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s…
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MaiaSpace Gains Momentum with its Reusable Mini-Launcher
As the fall season arrives, MaiaSpace looks back on key milestones reached during this past summer. On July 26, 2023, the team at MaiaSpace successfully performed a cryogenic filling test of its full-scale Upper Stage qualification model. The test took place at ArianeGroup’s test facilities in Vernon. This second stage has been designed, built, and…
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Relativity Space Signs Lease Agreement on NASA’s Historic Test Stand
Relativity Space, the preeminent 3D-printed rocket company, has signed an enhanced use lease agreement (EULA) on the vertical test stand at the A-2 complex within NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. The agreement marks the first time a commercial tenant has modernized an underutilized legacy test stand at NASA Stennis, signifying the…
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United Launch Alliance Announces the Successful Launch of Joint National Security Mission
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) lifted off on Sept.10 at 8:47 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. To date, ULA has launched 157 times with 100…
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Firefly Aerospace Signs Multi-Launch Agreement with L3Harris
Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, announced it signed a multi-launch agreement with L3Harris Technologies for three dedicated launches on Firefly’s Alpha vehicle in 2026. The agreement further positions Firefly as a provider of small-lift launch services as the company ramps up production of its Alpha vehicle to support the growing needs of both…
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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Safely Returns to Earth from International Space Station
After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 completed the agency’s sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 186 days in orbit. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates)…
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ESA Conducts Successful Engine Tests for All-New Ariane 6 Launch Vehicle
Validation testing continues for ESA’s all-new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, with the firing of its two upper-stage engines to simulate the way they will have to operate together during a flight. The test of the full upper stage including the new Vinci engine and a smaller Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) took place on a purpose-built…
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Lockheed Martin-Built Satellites Successfully Launched as Part of SDA’s Tranche 0 Mission
Ten Lockheed Martin-built satellites have successfully been deployed into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in support of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 0 Transport Layer (T0TL) mission. SDA’s T0TL is a proliferated LEO constellation that will demonstrate low-latency communication and provide a resilient network of integrated capabilities. The small satellites were launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon…
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ISRO Announces the Successful Launch of Aditya-L1 Solar Mission
The Indian Space Research Organisation announced that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) successfully launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, on September 02, 2023, from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. After a flight duration of 63 minutes and 20 seconds, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft was successfully injected into an elliptical orbit of…
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York Space Systems Achieves Successful Contact with Final Spacecraft of Tranche 0 Program
York Space Systems, the Denver-based aerospace company dedicated to the rapid deployment of complete space mission solutions, is reporting successful contact with its final spacecraft delivered in-orbit for the Tranche 0 (T0) Transport program, delivered as part of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The satellites were launched on a SpaceX…