Tag: Rideshare
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SpaceX launches Transporter-3 rideshare mission and lands booster at LZ-1
SpaceX has conducted its second orbital launch of the year, named Transporter-3. The liftoff occurred at the opening of a 29-minute launch window at 10:25 AM EST (15:25 UTC) on Thursday, January 13, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is the third dedicated rideshare mission operated…
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SpaceX successfully launches Transporter 2 mission with 88 satellites
SpaceX launched the Transporter 2 mission on Wednesday, June 30 at 15:31 EDT (19:31 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This followed an attempt on Tuesday where the countdown was held at T-30 seconds due to an aircraft violating the range’s restricted airspace. This was the second dedicated…
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Arianespace launches Vega’s return to flight with rideshare mission
After a five month grounding, Vega returned to flight following a launch failure in November 2020 — the rocket’s second in as many years. For its 18th mission, Vega launched the Pléiades-Neo 3 satellite along with several smaller rideshare payloads, taking advantage of the Small Satellite Mission Service offering from Arianespace, to Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).…
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Arianespace announces competition for free nanosatellite launch
Spectators in Kourou, French Guiana, watch as an Ariane 5 rocket launches three commercial satellites from the Guiana Space Center in August 2020. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin Arianespace announced this week it is organizing a contest open to startups, labs, and universities for a free launch of a…
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Transporter-1 debuts new SpaceX rideshare program, world record
SpaceX launched their third mission of 2021 and the first of many planned Smallsat Rideshare Program missions, which are designed by the company to give small satellite operators the chance to launch together as a way to reduce cost on regularly scheduled flights to frequently used orbits. The flight, called Transporter-1, lifted off with a…
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Spaceflight Inc. fills out its line of Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles for small satellites
An artist’s conception shows Spaceflight’s Sherpa-FX in orbit. (Spaceflight Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. today unveiled two new options for its Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle — one that uses an environmentally friendly chemical thruster system to help get small satellites where they need to go, and another that’s powered by an electric propulsion system. Such options…
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SpaceX Breaks Record with Booster’s Sixth Flight
SpaceX has broken another reuse record on the Starlink v1.0 L10 mission. For the first time, a Falcon 9 first stage has launched a sixth mission, this one carrying three rideshare payloads along with a batch of Starlink satellites. Liftoff of the eleventh overall Starlink mission, and the tenth launch of the Version 1.0 satellites,…
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Spaceflight Inc Evolving Sherpa for Future Rideshare Missions
Spaceflight Inc. has announced that a brand new Orbital Transfer Vehicle, Sherpa-FX, will fly on a dedicated rideshare mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This is the first of many next-generation transfer vehicles created by Spaceflight Inc. The Sherpa-FX is a next-generation transfer vehicle capable of multiple deployments, providing independent and detailed deployment telemetry,…
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SpaceX launches first Starlink rideshare mission with Planet Labs
As SpaceX continues to roll through its 2020 launch campaign, the company launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit, along with 3 small satellites provided by Planet Labs Inc. The mission launched on a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida…
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Planet reserves rideshare slots on SpaceX Starlink launches
Two SkySat satellites receive their supply of “green” propellant before a launch on a Vega rocket from French Guiana in 2016. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon Three of Planet’s commercial SkySat Earth-imaging spacecraft will ride to space on top of a stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites next month aboard…