Commercial
DoD awards $15 million Defense Production Act contract to LeoLabs
DoD said this agreement is to "ensure the continued viability of space surveillance capability" in the U.S. industrial base.
Ex-Im Bank to step up support for space industry challenged by Chinese competitors
Congress stood up the “Program on China and Transformational Exports" which Ex-Im is now working to implement
Apstar-6D launches on Long March 3B rocket
The first satellite for a Chinese company planning a global system of geostationary satellites, launched July 9 on a Long March 3B rocket.
Descartes Labs wins U.S. Air Force contract for geospatial data analytics
The Air Force will use Descartes Labs' platform to draw intelligence from imagery collected by satellites and by autonomous aerial vehicles.
NASA completes reviews of Boeing commercial crew test flight
NASA announced July 7 that it has completed two major reviews that stemmed from Boeing’s flawed commercial crew test flight last December as the agency and company prepare for a second test flight later this year.
OneWeb’s revival worries astronomers
A potential return to operations of satellite megaconstellation company OneWeb is a new source of worry for astronomers who previously had been focused on the effect SpaceX’s Starlink satellites will have on their observations.
The long countdown to commercial crew’s liftoff
How a 2005 call for ‘skin in the game’ started a 15-year countdown to the first human orbital spaceflight from U.S. soil since 2011
Op-ed | Is the future of space ops officeless?
Satellite experts should be asking: why is the space industry, the original ‘remote’ industry, behind the curve when it comes to truly remote operations?
Rocket Lab Electron launch fails
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket failed to reach orbit during a July 4 launch after a problem during the rocket’s second-stage burn.
Blue Canyon Technologies could produce up to 20 satellite buses for DARPA’s Blackjack
If DARPA exercises all options, the contract awarded to Blue Canyon Technologies has a potential value of $99.4 million.
British government and Bharti Global buy OneWeb, plan $1 billion investment to revive company
The British government and Indian mobile network operator Bharti Global placed a winning bid to acquire OneWeb, a broadband megaconstellation startup that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March after running out of funding, OneWeb said July 3.
NASA preparing second round of smallsat launch services program
NASA plans to issue multiple contracts in the coming months for smallsat launch services in the second phase of a program intended to support the emerging small launch vehicle industry.
Commercial launch industry off to slow start in 2020
The first half of 2020 has been sluggish for the commercial launch industry, but its problems can’t be explained solely by the coronavirus pandemic.
Optus orders OneSat satellite from Airbus
Airbus will build the satellite, called Optus-11, on its new OneSat platform, designed with a reconfigurable payload that can steer and reassign beams for different customers and services.
Solar sail spacecraft begins extended mission
A smallsat launched a year ago to demonstrate solar sail technologies continues to operate and is now beginning an extended mission.
Blue Origin delivers the first BE-4 engine to United Launch Alliance
The engine Blue Origin delivered is a pathfinder engine to be used in tests.
