Space Commerce

One Fast Step, Virgin Galactic Breaks the Sound Barrier with SpaceShipTwo

One Fast Step, Virgin Galactic Breaks the Sound Barrier with SpaceShipTwo

The suborbital space transportation industry took one of its biggest steps to date this morning, with the first powered test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, the complete details of which are included in the press release below.  Coming as it does in the same month which saw Orbital Sciences complete the first launch of the Antares booster,   and looking […]

NASA’s Flight Opportunites Program Begins New Round

NASA’s Flight Opportunites Program Begins New Round

One of the more innovative smaller efforts underway at NASA is the Flight Opportunities Programs, which offers researchers access to the suborbital and high altitude environment on a variety of platforms. The range of the experiment portfolio is impressive, and it has already hosted a number of experiments which could be important stepping stones on the path to permanent and expanding presence in space. For instance, much […]

Proton Set for Second Flight of 2013

Proton Set for Second Flight of 2013

A Russian Proton Booster, operating for International Launch Services out of Reston, Va. is set for the launch of the Anik G1 Canadian Comsat today at 2:36 PM EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch will be the second of 2013 for Proton, which is attempting to shake off a recent history of three failures […]

CASIS Awards Two Materials Sciences Grants

CASIS Awards Two Materials Sciences Grants

CASIS is steadily expanding its portfolio of research to be conducted aboard the International Space Station. On March 14, it issued a Request for Information looking for partners to assist with expanding the scope of non-embryonic stem cell research.  The RFI specifically seeks organizations with expertise in payload development and integration which can make the process […]

Sea Launch Secures Order for 2015

Sea Launch Secures Order for 2015

Trouble plagued Sea Launch AG has secured it first order following a February 1st launch failure which saw the complete loss of the Zenit 3-SL booster and Intelsat-27 satellite only seconds after liftoff.  The failure, which has been blamed on a Ukrainian built pump which supplied on-board power, occured 4.5 seconds after liftoff and resulted in the automatic shut-down of […]

Swiss Space Systems Introduces Partially Reusable Small Satellite Launcher

Swiss Space Systems Introduces Partially Reusable Small Satellite Launcher

Swiss Space Systems  (S3),  entered the rapidly growing field of air-launched orbital delivery systems yesterday, with the official unveiling of a three stage architecture aimed at placing up to 250 kg small satellites into space.  The first stage launch platform  is an Airbus A-300 jet aircraft certified for zero-G, parabolic flights. In a departure from other concepts currently […]

Orbital Sciences Passes Spacecraft Milestone

Orbital Sciences Passes Spacecraft Milestone

Orbital Press Release: ORBITAL-BUILT SATELLITES EXCEED 1,000 YEARS OF CUMULATIVE IN-ORBIT OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE — Company’s 30-Year History Includes 146 Satellites Built and Launched, With 81 Currently in Full Operations — (Dulles, VA 11 March 2013) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that it recently achieved […]

First Ariane V of 2013 Lifts off From South America

First Ariane V of 2013 Lifts off From South America

Kicking off a full 2013 launch campaign,  an Ariane V ECA heavy lift booster carrying two satellites lifted off from the CSG space center in French Guiana today, and in the process established a record performance of  placing 10,317 kg into GTO.  The larger of the two satellites,  the 6,265 kg Amazonas 3, was built by Space Systems/Loral Satellite for Spanish operator Hispasat. […]

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Soyuz Lifts off with 6 Globalstar Satellites

Soyuz Lifts off with 6 Globalstar Satellites

After a 24 hour delay to allow high level winds at the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan to subside, a Soyuz 2-1a rocket blasted off into the night sky at 16:24 UTC carrying the final 6 satellites of Globalstar’s second generation, 24 bird constellation. After separation from the third stage,   the restartable Fregat upperstage will deliver the satellites to a circularized 52 degree orbit where they […]

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