Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- Global Eagle Entertainment completes Chapter 11 restructuring SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 Global Eagle Entertainment, a provider of media services and satellite Wi-Fi to aircraft, boats and remote locations, has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- NanoAvionics to take on larger microsatellite market SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 Lithuanian nanosatellite maker NanoAvionics is moving into the heavier microsatellite market as it looks to grow fivefold by 2025.
- With CAS500, South Korea launches journey toward private-led satellite development SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 The March 22 launch of South Korea’s CAS500-1 remote sensing satellite has marked the beginning of the country’s journey toward the domestic satellite industry being driven by the private sector.
- NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight NASA · 23 Mar 2021 NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
- Twenty years after deorbit, Mir’s legacy lives on in today’s space projects NASASpaceflight · 23 Mar 2021 At 05:59 UTC on 23 March 2001 Russia’s Mir space station burned up as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, concluding its storied fifteen-year mission. Twenty years on, the successes and lessons learned aboard Mir live on i...
- Lockheed Martin signs agreement with Omnispace to explore 5G in space SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement with Omnispace to share business and technical information on the deployment of 5G networking technology in space.
- Sure, you can spell SPAC. But what is it? SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 The wave of deals involving special-purpose acquisition corporations (SPACs) has grabbed the space industry’s interest in the last few months. It’s also prompted more than a few people to ask: what, exactly, is a SPAC?
- Can you still spell space without SPAC? SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 The SPAC boom has reshaped the space startup sector. Until recently, there was plenty of capital flowing into startups but few exits. SPACs offer, in some sense, the best of both options: an influx of capital associated...
- MDA files to go public SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 Canadian space technology company MDA Ltd. filed paperwork March 22 for an initial public offering of stock, raising funding to pay down its debt and invest in new projects.
- SpaceX Texas test HQ fires up a dozen Falcon, Starship rocket engines in six hours Teslarati · 23 Mar 2021 Though it often falls under the radar relative to SpaceX’s high-profile Boca Chica Starship hub, another even more important Texas outpost appears...
- Testbed for NASA moon mission rides to orbit with six other satellites Spaceflight Now · 23 Mar 2021 Rocket Lab launched seven satellites Monday from New Zealand on a rideshare mission serving the U.S. and Australian militaries and space services startups. A spacecraft developed in-house by Rocket Lab was also aboard to...
- Ingenuity helicopter prepares for first flight on Mars SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 A small helicopter that hitched a ride on NASA’s Perseverance rover will attempt its first flight on Mars in early April, demonstrating technology that could be used on future missions.
- NASA to offer funding for initial studies of commercial space stations SpaceNews · 23 Mar 2021 NASA is shifting direction in its effort to support development of commercial space stations in low Earth orbit, with plans to issue a series of awards for initial studies before later purchasing services.
- SpaceX aces Starship static fire days after NASA astronaut visit Teslarati · 22 Mar 2021 Update: Around 9am CDT (UTC-5), SpaceX successfully fired up Starship serial number 11’s (SN11) three Raptor engines, completing the static fire test...
- Rogers feeling optimistic about Space Force procurement efforts SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said the Space Force is making progress in the organization of its acquisition office and expects to see new proposals to accelerate acquisition programs.
- Rocket Lab launches Photon pathfinder on They Go Up So Fast NASASpaceflight · 22 Mar 2021 The 19th flight of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, named They Go Up So Fast, lifted off on Monday, March 22 at 22:30 UTC. On board the mission were six customer satellites and an internal Photon pathfinder satellite named...
- Airbus nets first commercial GEO order of 2021 with Eutelsat replacement satellite SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 Airbus has announced this year’s first commercial GEO order, securing a contract to build the Eutelsat 36D satellite for a launch in 2024.
- Europe is starting to freak out about the launch dominance of SpaceX Ars Technica · 22 Mar 2021 The Falcon 9 has come to dominate commercial satellite launches.
- A little love from the Air Force can put a space business on the map SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 The Pentagon’s renewed focus on space and the standup of the U.S. Space Force are boosting demand for technologies being developed by commercial companies. The Air Force technology accelerator known as AFWERX is respondi...
- Soyuz launch marks first full-commercial mission of Russia’s GK Launch Services SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 A Soyuz rocket launched 38 satellites from 18 countries on Monday, including South Korea’s CAS500-1 remote sensing satellite, in the first all-commercial rideshare mission GK Launch Services has arranged without a Russia...
- Pixxel raises seed round for hyperspectral satellites SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 An Indian startup raised $7.3 million to allow the company to continue work on a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites, the first step in its much bigger ambitions.
- Privately-funded mission takes off to begin space debris cleanup trials Spaceflight Now · 22 Mar 2021 A commercial mission developed by the Japanese company Astroscale rocketed into space on a Russian Soyuz rocket Monday with 37 other satellites, ready to kick off an orbital “dance” with two small spacecraft demonstratin...
- Download the March 15 issue of SpaceNews Magazine SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 Download the March 15th issue of SpaceNews Magazine and subscribe
- Rocket Lab launches smallsat rideshare mission SpaceNews · 22 Mar 2021 Rocket Lab launched six smallsats for a variety of commercial and government customers March 22 on a mission also intended to demonstrate the performance of its own smallsat bus.
- Russia launches multi-satellite rideshare mission on commercial Soyuz flight NASASpaceflight · 21 Mar 2021 Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos launched its first dedicated commercial launch through its GK Launch Services subsidiary, using a Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat vehicle to deliver a cluster of satellites to orbit, including S...
- NASA, Boeing reviewing terabytes of SLS Core Stage data from full-duration Green Run static fire NASASpaceflight · 21 Mar 2021 NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program, Core Stage prime contractor Boeing, and RS-25 prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne have completed the biggest test in the 10-year old program, firing the Artemis 1 flight stage fo...
- Soyuz-2 rideshare launch for South Korea, Astroscale, dozens more delayed to March 22 SpaceNews · 20 Mar 2021 The launch of a Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying a South Korean remote sensing satellite and three dozen smaller satellites was delayed Saturday due to a problem with the rocket’s upper stage.
- Decommissioned NOAA weather satellite breaks up SpaceNews · 20 Mar 2021 A polar-orbiting weather satellite decommissioned nearly eight years ago has broken up, adding to the growing debris population in a key orbit.
- GAO to review Air Force process for selecting location of U.S. Space Command SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 GAO will review the Air Force’s methodology and scoring that led to the decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama.
- Inmarsat gets funding to develop satellite-based telemetry relay network for rocket launches SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 The UK Space Agency will partly fund the development of an in-orbit telemetry relay system called InRange, which will use British satellite operator Inmarsat’s L-band constellation to guide rocket launches.
- Biden to nominate former Sen. Bill Nelson as NASA administrator Spaceflight Now · 19 Mar 2021 Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime space advocate whose district included the Kennedy Space Center and who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer, is President Biden’s choice to...
- NASA Statement on Nomination of Bill Nelson for Agency Administrator NASA · 19 Mar 2021 Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk released the following statement after today’s nomination by President Joe Biden of Bill Nelson to serve as the 14th NASA administrator:
- ISS shuffles docking ports ahead of busy schedule NASASpaceflight · 19 Mar 2021 Soyuz MS-17 has relocated to a new docking port in preparation for a spree of upcoming vehicle arrivals at the International Space Station. The relocation ensures that a Russian spacewalk in June can proceed, which will...
- Soyuz crew relocates spacecraft to new space station parking spot Spaceflight Now · 19 Mar 2021 Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut strapped into their Soyuz spacecraft Friday and moved the capsule to a different docking port on the International Space Station, clearing the way arrival of a fresh crew next...
- Satellite veterans warn of space SPAC downside SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 The frenzy of activity swirling around SPACs is pushing space into a new era of risk-taking, according to two satellite industry veterans.
- Widespread support for Nelson nomination to lead NASA SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 President Joe Biden’s nomination of former senator Bill Nelson as the next administrator of NASA has won widespread support from both members of Congress and the broader space community.
- Here are five questions we would ask the nominee for NASA administrator Ars Technica · 19 Mar 2021 "If we can't do a rocket for $11.5 billion, we ought to close up shop."
- NASA and SpaceX sign agreement on spaceflight safety SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 SpaceX has agreed to maneuver any of its Starlink satellites that come close to the International Space Station or other NASA spacecraft in low Earth orbit as part of an agreement between the agency and the company.
- Rocket Report: Pegasus booster will fly again, hacking SpaceX telemetry Ars Technica · 19 Mar 2021 "The RS-25 is a great program for us."
- Chang’e-5 orbiter reaches Lagrange point on extended mission SpaceNews · 19 Mar 2021 The orbiter from China’s 2020 Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission has entered orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 as part of an extended mission.