Tag: Sherpa
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Firefly Aerospace acquires Spaceflight Inc. to boost capabilities for on-orbit services
Spaceflight Inc.’s engineers work on a Sherpa-LTE orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Photo) Texas-based Firefly Aerospace says it has acquired Bellevue, Wash.-based Spaceflight Inc. and will shift the operation’s focus from satellite rideshare logistics to its line of orbital transfer vehicles. Firefly says the strategic acquisition will add to its portfolio of low-cost space transportation…
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Space Shorts: German rocket company will launch orbital tugs for Spaceflight Inc.
An artist’s concept shows Rocket Factory Augsburg’s launch vehicle in flight. (RFA Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. and Rocket Factory Augsburg, a German launch startup, say they’ve signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for Spaceflight’s Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles to ride on the RFA One rocket. In an announcement made today at the International Astronautical…
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SpaceX launches 59 payloads, including Spaceflight’s latest breed of orbital tug
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) A new type of controllable orbital transfer vehicle built by Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. made its debut today when SpaceX sent dozens of satellites into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX’s Transporter-5 mission, which is part of the company’s rideshare program, lifted…
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Spaceflight Inc. hails a pair of successful launches as it deals with frictions in SpaceX relationship
Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle lifts off into the skies over New Zealand, sending two BlackSky satellites into orbit. Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. played a supporting role in the mission. (Joseph Baxter Photo via Rocket Lab) Thanks to its role in handling pre-launch logistics, Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. can claim a share of the credit for two…
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RBC Signals strikes deal to hook up ground stations with Spaceflight Inc.’s orbital tugs
Artwork shows the Sherpa-LTE1 orbital tug firing up its propulsion system. (Spaceflight Inc. Illustration) Two Seattle-area space companies have forged an alliance to facilitate space-to-ground communications for orbital transfer vehicles. Under the terms of a ground station service agreement, Redmond, Wash.-based RBC Signals will support ground-based communications for multiple missions involving Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc.’s Sherpa…
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Spaceflight Inc. unveils a new breed of orbital tug that’s built for far-out missions
An artist’s conception shows the Sherpa-ES orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Graphic) When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends a robotic lander to the moon’s south pole, perhaps as early as next year, Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. plans to make a few extra deliveries with its own piggyback spacecraft. The mission, known as GEO Pathfinder, will…
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SpaceX launches 88 spacecraft into orbit — including two of Spaceflight’s orbital tugs
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster makes its landing after the Transporter-2 launch. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sent dozens of satellites into orbit today with a launch that featured an unusual on-the-ground touchdown for its first-stage booster. Eighty-eight spacecraft were packed aboard the two-stage rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force…
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LeoStella delivers first Loft Orbital satellite for SpaceX’s jam-packed rideshare mission
Loft Orbital’s YAM-3 satellite is on display in the foreground at LeoStella’s factory in Tukwila, Wash. In the background, clean-room workers use their arms to spell out Y-A-M-3. (Leostella Photo) SpaceX is getting set to launch scores of satellites for its Transporter-2 rideshare mission, and one of those satellites marks a milestone for LeoStella. Loft…
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Inside look: Spaceflight ships out Sherpa orbital tugs to give 36 spacecraft a ride
Tony Frego, Spaceflight Inc.’s senior director of mission management, shows off the Sherpa-LTE1 orbital transportation vehicle and its electric propulsion system. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) AUBURN, Wash. — A pair of space tugs are beginning their journey from Spaceflight Inc.’s clean room, south of Seattle, to low Earth orbit. Along the way, the Sherpa…
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Atmosphere-monitoring satellites will ride on Spaceflight’s new breed of space tug
An artist’s conception shows one of NASA’s LLITED satellites in orbit. (Illustration by The Aerospace Corp.) Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. says it’s won a contract to handle the launch logistics for a pair of NASA satellites that will study the factors behind atmospheric drag. The twin CubeSats for a mission known as Low-Latitude Ionosphere / Thermosphere…