Commercial
Virgin Orbit selects Japanese airport as launch site
Virgin Orbit announced April 2 it has identified an airport in Japan as a potential site for launch operations, joining airports in the United States and Great Britain as hosts for the air-launch company.
Momentus signs up Taiwanese customer for Vigoride flight
Momentus, a Silicon Valley in-space transportation startup, announced a launch service agreement April 1 with Odysseus Space, a satellite applications startup based in Taiwan.
Rocket Lab executive says company is well positioned to weather crisis
The pause in launch operations is giving Rocket Lab time to focus on its satellite business.
NASA selects astronauts for Crew Dragon mission
NASA has completed the crew for the first operational SpaceX commercial crew mission to the International Space Station, one that will not include any Russian cosmonauts after Roscosmos officials said they would not fly on what they consider an unproven vehicle.
Orbit Fab gets award to test satellite refueling technology
A startup that seeks to create refueling facilities in orbit for satellites has received a government grant to develop one essential technology for that system.
Virgin Orbit designs mass-producible ventilator for coronavirus patients
If the design is approved, Virgin Orbit said it can start producing ventilators in April.
Stratolaunch announces hypersonic vehicle plans
Stratolaunch, the company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen as an air-launch company, announced March 30 it is developing a reusable hypersonic vehicle designed to be launched from the company’s giant aircraft.
OneWeb files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Satellite internet startup OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday after its largest investor, Softbank, rejected a request for additional funding.
SpaceX wins NASA commercial cargo contract for lunar Gateway
NASA announced March 27 it has selected SpaceX to provide cargo transportation services for the agency’s planned lunar Gateway.
Avio, exempt from Italy’s coronavirus lockdown, seeks reopening of French Guiana spaceport
Since 60% of Avio’s revenue comes from manufacturing, the French government’s March 16 decision to suspend launches from the Guiana Space Center shouldn’t impact revenues as long as Europe’s South American spaceport reopens within two to three months, Ranzo said.
Iceye unveils radar imagery with 25-centimeter resolution
Iceye, the Finnish Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operator, unveiled a new product March 26: imagery with a resolution of 25 centimeters.
ArianeGroup expands GEOTracker telescope network • ITU forms info sharing platform for network resilience
A 35-50% decline in stock prices among several major satellite operators is likely indicative of deeper concerns than the coronavirus, according to Northern Sky Research.
SpaceX reports problem during Crew Dragon parachute test
SpaceX said March 24 that one of the final parachute tests for its Crew Dragon spacecraft went awry, a problem it blamed on the test setup and not a flaw with the parachutes themselves.
NASA to hand off spacecraft communications to industry
NASA is preparing to hand off to the private sector much of the work of communicating with spacecraft in Earth and lunar orbit.
APT Satellite revenue down as competitors multiply
APT Satellite reported a 14% revenue drop in 2019 as regional competitors with new satellites started taking market share.
NASA to participate in SpaceX engine anomaly investigation
NASA representatives will be part of an ongoing SpaceX investigation into an engine anomaly on a recent Falcon 9 launch as the company prepares for a Crew Dragon mission carrying two NASA astronauts.
