Regulatory uncertainty as commercial human spaceflight takes off
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-05 09:00
Virgin Galactic conducted its first commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle June 29. Blue Origin started flying paying customers on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle in 2021. Both companies operate under a regulatory regime by the Federal Aviation Administration. Federal law sharply restricts the FAA’s ability to enact regulations for the safety of spaceflight participants.
Hughes JUPITER 3 arrives at Cape Canaveral for launch – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-05 00:00
Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS) company, has announced the company’s JUPITER™ 3, ultra high-density satellite has arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the upcoming launch. JUPITER 3, also known as EchoStar XXIV, was built by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, and is engineered to deliver gigabytes of connectivity to customers across North and South America. The satellite was carefully loaded onto an Antonov aircraft, flown across the country, and delivered to the U.S. Space Coast.
SpaceX launches ESA and NASA’s Euclid on a mission to shed light on dark energy – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-04 00:00
ESA launched the ESA Euclid mission to a Sun-Earth L2 transfer orbit, also known as the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This begins Euclid’s mission to study why the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. Astronomers use the term “dark energy” in reference to the unknown cause of this accelerated expansion.
Firefly Aerospace signs agreement with Lockheed Martin for Alpha launch services – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-04 00:00
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. Has signed a launch agreement with Lockheed Martin to support a technology demo mission that will launch aboard Firefly’s Alpha vehicle. “We are working with Firefly because of their innovative performance in offering access to space for small payloads on Firefly Alpha.” — Dan Tenney, Vice President, Strategy and Business development, Lockheed Martin Space
OQ Technology wins million€ ESA contract to build 3 advanced smallsats – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-05 00:00
OQ Technology has been awarded a 1.1 million euros contract to design, build, integrate, test and demo three, advanced smallsats. The ERMIS mission is a pathfinder demonstration of key space connectivity capabilities linked to Greece’s 200M€ national small satellite project.
ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite progressing toward launch – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-04 00:00
The European Space Agency’s Arctic Weather Satellite has passed the Critical Design Review (CDR) AAC Clyde Space supplies the mission’s main instrument, as well as core avionics, under contracts that are valued at a total of 13.5 million euros. The data will improve weather forecasting over the Arctic regions and contribute to the understanding of climate change.
The Forrester Digest: Las Vegas wants rocket launch site – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-04 00:00
A Las Vegas real estate developer wants to build a spaceport on 240 acres of near-desert scrub in Clark County, Nevada. Rob Lauer, the developer, is seeking to raise $310 million (284.4 million euros) to build a launch pad, a runway for spaceplanes, a control tower and a flight-training school. Also in the plan is a 200 room hotel + casino.
Teledyne e2v Space Imaging celebrates sensors success as Aeolus de-orbits – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-07-04 00:00
Teledyne e2v Space Imaging designed and built sensors for Aeolus. Aeolus is the first European Space Agency (ESA) satellite mission to acquire profiles of Earth’s wind on a global scale. Data from the Aeolus satellite observations have been used to improve weather forecasts and climate models.