Tag: smallsat
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Vaya Space aims for flight operations next year with STAR-3D vortex hybrid engine
Vaya Space, a developing small satellite and technology company (formerly Rocket Crafters), is deep into the development of their STAR-3D vortex hybrid engine that will be used on the company’s Dauntless rocket. The company recently announced a multifaceted agreement with NASA for use of Kennedy Space Center and Stennis Space Center facilities for engine demonstration…
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ABL Space Systems joining smallsat launch market with growing number of contracts
Another smallsat launch provider is looking to debut in 2021, entering a busy market of new commercial rockets. Among the many new companies proposing to provide dedicated launches for small satellites, ABL Space Systems has accumulated several launch contracts which position the company well for a first launch this year. ABL Space Systems, like many…
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Spaceflight gets first crack at India’s new SSLV rocket – and puts up a ‘sold out’ sign
India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle will be smaller than its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, shown here on its launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center. (ISRO Photo) Seattle-based Spaceflight says it’s purchased the first commercial launch of India’s next-generation Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, or SSLV, and has already committed all of the available…
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Rocket Lab will try helicopter recovery of rocket booster – and CEO will eat his hat
An artist’s conception shows a future Electron rocket making a re-entry after launch. (Rocket Lab Illustration) Taking a page from SpaceX’s playbook, Rocket Lab’s CEO says the company will try to recover the first-stage booster of its Electron rocket to save time and money. “Electron is going reusable,” CEO Peter Beck announced today at the…
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Tethers Unlimited joins forces with TriSept to test system for reducing orbital debris
One version of the Terminator Tape system is designed to be integrated onto a 4-inch-wide CubeSat. A dime is included in the picture for a size comparison. (Tethers Unlimited Photo) Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited will have its technology for deorbiting space debris put to its most ambitious test next year, during a satellite mission that…
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Good news, bad news for Spaceflight: Satellite rideshare market is heating up
An artist’s conception shows a future SpaceX rocket deploying a satellite carrier in orbit. (SpaceX Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight has made a name for itself by putting together bunches of small satellites for launch on someone else’s rockets, but now the owners of some of those rockets are aiming to take the business for themselves. The…
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Images start to stream in from new crop of satellites after two launch extravaganzas
A satellite image of Beijing, captured by one of Planet’s SkySat spacecraft, shows the Chinese capital’s futuristic high-speed rail station toward the left edge of the frame. (Planet Photo) More than 100 payloads have been put into orbit over the past couple of weeks, including 64 satellites riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and 31…
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Third time’s the charm: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a record 64 satellites for Spaceflight
SpaceX’s first triple-launched Falcon 9 booster lights up to send 64 satellites into space. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched Seattle-based Spaceflight’s first-ever dedicated rideshare mission, a satellite extravaganza aimed at placing 64 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Today’s liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California came off at 10:34 a.m. PT, sending…
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From Stratolaunch to startup: Chuck Beames raises his sights to York satellites
An artist’s concept shows a York Space Systems satellite in orbit. (York Space Systems Illustration) Two years ago, Chuck Beames presided over Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s effort to build the biggest airplane in the world. Now he has his eyes set on another big frontier: small satellites. Beames, who left the president’s post at Allen’s…
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Efforts to develop small-scale rockets are soaring, but only a few get off the ground
News Brief: The latest “State of the Industry” report for small orbital-class launch vehicles tracks 101 reported efforts to create such rockets, compared with a mere 31 in 2015. But many of those efforts are defunct or in limbo, Northrop Grumman’s Carlos Niederstrasser said today at the SmallSat Conference in Logan, Utah. “We’re definitely starting…