Tag: smallsat
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Launch Capacity Hits Critical Bottleneck Despite Record Investment
Is launch capacity the new limiting factor for space commerce? Despite $8.2 billion in launch industry investment over the past three years, orbital access has become the primary constraint throttling commercial space growth. Satellite operators are now facing 18-24 month wait times for dedicated launches and 12-18 months for rideshare slots, creating a fundamental mismatch…
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SpaceX launches Transporter 14 rideshare mission
SpaceX’s next mission as part of its Transporter small payload rideshare program, Transporter 14, launched from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday, June 23, at 2:25 PM PDT (21:25 UTC), following a 24 hour weather delay. The launch window extended until 3:15 PM PDT (22:15 UTC). After…
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Isar Aerospace launches Spectrum, fails early in first stage flight
Isar Aerospace, based near Munich, Germany, made the first-ever launch attempt of its Spectrum two-stage rocket on Sunday, March 30, at 10:30 UTC from the Orbital Launch Pad at the Andøya Space Center in Norway. An earlier attempt on Monday, March 24, was scrubbed due to high winds, and a second attempt on Saturday, March…
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SpaceX launches Transporter-13 rideshare from Vandenberg
SpaceX launched the Transporter-13 rideshare mission on Friday, March 14, at 11:43 PM PDT (06:43 UTC on March 15) from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Following launch, Falcon 9 deployed more than 60 satellites into orbit. The Falcon booster supporting this mission returned to land at LZ-4. The second stage for this…
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Isar Aerospace completes static fires of Spectrum rocket ahead of first European launch
Isar Aerospace has announced the completion of static fires on both stage one and stage two of its new Spectrum rocket. The company now says the only thing standing between them and a launch is approval and licensing from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). On February 14, 2025, nine of the company’s Aquila engines,…
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SpaceX launches Transporter-11 rideshare with 116 payloads
On Friday, Aug. 15, 2024, SpaceX launched the Transporter-11 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). Liftoff occurred at 11:56 AM PT (18:56 UTC), 36 minutes into a 53-minute launch window. At the end of the mission SpaceX declared that all payloads were successfully deployed. Payloads were deployed…
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LeoStella super-sizes its platform for small satellites as it takes aim at new markets
An artist’s conception shows a satellite based on LeoStella’s LS-300 bus. (LeoStella Illustration) Tukwila, Wash.-based LeoStella is unveiling its latest, greatest platform for small satellites, which should hit a sweet spot for future manufacturing contracts. LeoStella, which is a joint venture co-owned by European satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and a geospatial data analysis company…
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Orbex breaks ground on Sutherland Spaceport as UK prepares to enter domestic launch market
United Kingdom (UK) based spaceflight company Orbex has begun construction at the Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland. Set to host launches of Orbex’s Prime rocket, Sutherland is the UK mainland’s first vertical launch site. With another vertical-launch site at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetlands, and Spaceport Cornwall’s horizontal-launch options, the UK is finally ramping up its…
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Rocket Lab launches “It Argos Up From Here” mission
Rocket Lab has launched its 31st Electron rocket on the “It Argos Up From Here” mission from Rocket Lab’s private Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B), on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Liftoff occurred on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:09 AM NZT (17:09 UTC on Oct. 7). This launch marks Rocket Lab’s eighth launch of 2022…
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Firefly succeeds on second Alpha flight
With the goal of successfully reaching orbit, Firefly successfully launched FLTA002 – its second demonstration flight of the Alpha launch vehicle – on the mission dubbed “To The Black.” Launching from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the vehicle lifted off at 12:01 AM PDT (07:01 UTC)…