Spaceflight is preparing to debut the company’s new Sherpa-AC vehicle on the upcoming Transporter 5 rideshare mission. The Sherpa-AC will be onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 that is scheduled to launch to SSO on May 25, 2022, at 2:35 p.m., ET, from Cape Canaveral. Organizations on Spaceflight’s Transporter 5 mission include Xona Space’s Huginn, NearSpace […]
Satellite servicing
First Structural Metal Cutting In Space Demo By Nanoracks + Maxar Will Be Aboard The SpaceX Transporter 5 Rideshare Mission
Voyager and Nanoracks have announced that the first Outpost demonstration mission (Outpost Mars Demo-1) is expected to launch this month aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare flight. This mission is part of the firms’ Outpost Program, which is focused on transforming used launch vehicle upper stages into uncrewed, controllable platforms. Nanoracks designed a self-contained, hosted payload […]
Astrobotic’s $1.5M From NASA To Provide Mature Satellite Servicing And Hazard Detection Systems For Space
Astrobotic’s HazNet system leverages hardware acceleration and machine learning to produce real-time hazard maps of potential celestial landing sites, and LiDAR-based solutions to map planetary bodies, service satellites, and detect hazards in space. Astrobotic has won two NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contracts worth $1.5 million to further advance novel Laser Imaging, […]
Astroscale’s ELSA-d Mission Successfully Completes Complex Rendezvous Operation
Astroscale Holdings Inc. (“Astroscale”) has announced that, despite several unexpected setbacks, the company’s End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission successfully completed further controlled close-approach rendezvous operations between its two spacecraft in orbit. The technologies proven in this demonstration include tracking of an object from a great distance, rendezvous with an uncontrolled object, and handover from […]
Astroscale U.S. + Orbit Fab Sign The First On-Orbit Satellite Fuel Sale Agreement
Orbit Fab, the Gas Stations in Space™ refueling service provider, and Astroscale U.S. Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc., have signed a commercial agreement to refuel Astroscale’s Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI™) Servicer in GEO; LEXI is the first satellite designed to be refueled. Under the terms of this initial agreement, Orbit Fab’s GEO […]
Astroscale Reports On Their ELSA-d Satellite Servicer Anomalies During The In-Space Test Capture
The Astroscale team has made excellent progress addressing the anomalies experienced that occurred in January during the ELSA-d Autonomous Capture demonstration, with most issues either resolved or mitigated. However, there remains one issue that has not been resolved: four of the servicer’s eight thrusters have experienced technical difficulties and are now non-functional. This has impacted […]
SES Enlists Satellite From Thales Alenia Space To Extend Services Across Europe, Africa And Asia
SES has ordered a new satellite, SES-26, from Thales Alenia Space that is a joint venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %). The SES-26 is a fully software-defined geostationary (GEO) satellite that will maintain and expand a wide range of content delivery and connectivity services to broadcasters, media companies, telco operators, internet service […]
Impulse Space Propulsion Names Their New COO
Impulse Space Propulsion has appointed Barry A. Matsumori to the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) position. An industry veteran with decades of experience in mobile wireless and Space 2.0 sectors, Barry will be a key member of Impulse’s executive team, instrumental in driving Impulse’s mission to become the go-to leader for in-space transportation of satellites […]
Launching From France By 2026 Will Be Dark’s Inaugural Rocket
Propelled by their first $5 million fundraising round, the French space company Dark is developing the firm’s capabilities at lightning speed. In the short few months since inception, Dark has already built a multi-disciplinary team of experienced space engineers, secured its headquarters and test facilities, and acquired their first client commitments. The operational team is […]
Airbus Passes Milestone As Galileo 2nd Generation Satellites Ready To Navigate Into The Future
Airbus has passed an important milestone by successfully completing the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its system concept for the second generation Galileo navigation satellites. During this important milestone, Airbus’ proposed preliminary design and the customer’s system requirements have been fully reviewed and agreed. This paves the way for further verification, acceptance and qualification at equipment and module level. […]