Commercial
NASA adds five companies to commercial lunar lander program
NASA announced Nov. 18 that it was adding five companies to a contract to perform commercial deliveries of payloads to the surface of the moon, a group that ranges from small ventures to Blue Origin and SpaceX.
FCC tells Congress it will conduct public C-band auction
BREMEN, Germany — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai informed Congress Nov. 18 that the agency will run a public auction of C-band spectrum instead of allowing a consortium of satellite operators to sell it directly to 5G wire…
C-Band Alliance says it would send billions to U.S. treasury under private spectrum auction
Satellite operators Intelsat, SES and Telesat on Nov. 15 detailed how they would calculate the proceeds they have pledged to contribute to the U.S. treasury if the Federal Communications Commission accepts their proposal to privately auction C-band spectrum sought by 5G network operators.
Exos blames suborbital launch accident on structural failure
Exos Aerospace said the failed launch of a reusable suborbital sounding rocket last month was caused by a structural failure of the rocket shortly after liftoff.
EchoStar, fresh off Helios Wire acquisition, orders S-band smallsats from Tyvak
EchoStar has ordered two tiny S-band satellites from Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems to jumpstart a low-Earth-orbit constellation using spectrum gained through its October acquisition of IoT startup Helios Wire.
NASA inspector general criticizes additional Boeing commercial crew payments
NASA paid Boeing nearly $300 million more than originally planned in its commercial crew contract in part because of agency concerns that the company might drop out of the program, a new report claims.
Loft Orbital raises $13 million as it prepares to bulk buy satellite buses
Loft Orbital has raised a fresh $13 million to continue development of a constellation of small satellites purpose-built to carry a mix of payloads for customers who don’t want to fly their own satellites.
SpaceX tests Crew Dragon abort thrusters
SpaceX successfully tested Nov. 13 the thrusters used as part of the abort system for its Crew Dragon spacecraft, nearly seven months after a similar test resulted in the loss of another spacecraft.
Air Force funding keeps Launcher development on track
Launcher won its first government funding when the U.S. Air Force awarded the the Brooklyn-based startup $1.5 million to accelerate development and testing of its E-2 rocket engine.
LeoSat, absent investors, shuts down
Mark Rigolle, CEO of LeoSat, told SpaceNews Nov. 13 that the company laid off all 13 employees — himself included — in August after its earlier investors decided not to fund the company any longer.
Isotropic, Avanti test antenna • Atlas Space to link Aevum launches • Globalstar, Nokia partner on African connectivity
Isotropic Systems has completed two-way communications tests of its electronically steered antenna using Avanti’s Hylas-4 satellite.
Rocket Lab introduces robotic manufacturing system to increase Electron production
In its ongoing quest to increase launch vehicle production, Rocket Lab has unveiled a new industrial robotic system designed to speed up manufacturing of its Electron rocket.
China carries out 2 orbital launches inside 3 hours
China launches six remote sensing satellites into orbit with two launches inside three hours from sites in north China.
Study pegs cost of imagery constellation at $300 million
A new study says companies can build, launch and operate constellations to gather global imagery with a resolution of one meter for a fraction of the cost of previous constellations.
OneWeb, Softbank seek dismissal of Intelsat lawsuit
Megaconstellation startup OneWeb and its largest investor Softbank asked the New York Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit from Intelsat, arguing that Intelsat failed to finalize rights it claimed it had to resell OneWeb satellite capacity.
BlackSky secures $50 million financing from Intelsat
The senior secured loan will finance BlackSky’s infrastructure and product development.
