Tag: Launch
-
ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter Successfully Completes Critical Design Review
ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter, the first spacecraft that will rendezvous and capture an object around another planet, passed a key milestone to bring the first Mars samples back to Earth. The critical design review for the spacecraft’s platform was completed with the involvement of European industry and NASA. A critical design review is one of…
-
ISRO’s Aditya-L1 Spacecraft Completes First Halo Orbit Around Sun-Earth L1 Point
ISRO’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft has completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point. The Aditya-L1 mission is an Indian solar observatory at Lagrangian point L1, launched on September 2, 2023 and was inserted in its targeted halo orbit on January 6, 2024. Aditya-L1 spacecraft in the Halo orbit takes 178 days to complete a…
-
Airbus Secures German Armed Forces Prime Contract for Next Generation Military Satellite System
Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, has awarded Airbus the SATCOMBw 3 prime contract for the next generation secure military satellite system which includes geostationary satellites as well as ground segment, launch and operation for 15 years. The spacecraft are due to be deployed before the end of the decade and the contract value amounts to €2.1…
-
Rocket Report: Firefly delivers for NASA; Polaris Dawn launching this month
Welcome to Edition 7.01 of the Rocket Report! We’re compiling this week’s report a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Ars is beginning its seventh year publishing this weekly roundup of rocket news, and there’s a lot of it this week despite the holiday here in the United States. Worldwide, there…
-
Here’s why SpaceX’s competitors are crying foul over Starship launch plans
United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin are worried about SpaceX’s plans to launch its enormous Starship rocket from Florida. In documents submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration last month, ULA and Blue Origin raised concerns about the impact of Starship launch operations on their own activities on Florida’s Space Coast. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space…
-
NTS Technical Systems Reemerges as Element US Space & Defense
NTS Technical Systems—the global authority for independent testing services across multiple industries—has reemerged as Element U.S. Space & Defense, marking a new era in the company’s transformative 63-year legacy. As a trusted government testing partner and pioneer service provider in space exploration since the 1960s, this new brand identity underscores its commitment to space and…
-
Yahsat Selects SpaceX for 2027 & 2028 Launches of Al Yah 4 and 5 Satellites
Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider, has selected SpaceX for the launch of its advanced new geostationary satellites Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5) using SpaceX’s flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket. The agreement is an important component of the AY4 and AY5 procurement programme, the full cost…
-
ESA’s New Phsat-2 Satellite to Demonstrate AI’s Impact on Earth Observation
ESA’s new Φsat-2 mission, launching in the coming weeks, will push the boundaries of AI for Earth observation – demonstrating the transformative potential of AI for space technology. Artificial intelligence technologies have achieved remarkable successes and continue to show their value as backbones in scientific research and real-world applications. Earth observation has provided a rich…
-
Firefly Aerospace Launches Alpha FLTA005 Noise of Summer Mission for NASA
Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, announced it successfully launched its Alpha Flight 5 (FLTA005) rocket and completed the payload deployment sequence as part of the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with NASA. The mission, called Noise of Summer, lifted off from Firefly’s SLC-2 launch site at the Vandenberg…
-
HUBER+SUHNER Selected by MDA Space for MDA AURORA Satellite Technology Supply Chain
HUBER+SUHNER is proud to announce that it has been selected by MDA Space one of the leading providers of advanced technology and services to the rapidly expanding global space industry, as part of the company’s supply chain for MDA AURORA, a game-changing product line driving the transition from analog to digital satellite technology. HUBER+SUHNER will provide…