The U.S. Air Force has issued a request for proposals for five launch services contracts to support the deployment of three Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites and the Air Force Space Command’s satellites 8 and 12 into space, Space News reported Wednesday. Claire Leon, director of the launch enterprise directorate at the Air Force’s Space […] More

OneWeb has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch later this year its constellation of 720 satellites that will work to provide broadband internet services worldwide, Daily Breeze reported Saturday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai cleared OneWeb’s application on June 22. “We hope to approve many more constellations because we know that the more companies […] More

Iridium Communications is open to the possibility of using pre-flown first-stage boosters of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to launch Iridium NEXT satellites in 2018 provided that such a move can help reduce wait times for launches, Space News reported Tuesday. “While we are currently flying first flown launches, I’m open to previously flown launches, particularly for the […] More

Iridium Communications has initiated final measures to prepare for the June 25 launch of the second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Get Connected reported Monday. “Once deployed, this batch of satellites will be tested and validated and inserted one-by-one into our existing constellation, replacing our original block one satellites,” said Matt […] More

An Earth observation platform developed by a Teledyne Technologies subsidiary has been installed on the International Space Station to host imaging, technology demonstration and space qualification payloads. The Multi-User System for Earth Sensing platform from Teledyne Brown Engineering launched with SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket in early June and has completed an initial operational assessment at the space station, Teledyne said Tuesday. MUSES, which orbits approximately 250 miles […] More

Sierra Nevada Corp. has completed the third integration review for the Dream Chaser spacecraft as part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA. The company said Thursday the integration assessment for the space vehicle covers the completion of the agency’s phase 1 safety evaluation and NASA’s approval of 16 safety data packages and 32 hazard reports […] More

Iridium Communications has moved from June 29 to June 25 the launch of the second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The new target date will advance the launch of the satellites by four days, Iridium said Thursday. “Satellites have already started to arrive at the launch […] More

SES has integrated a NASA instrument payload equipped with an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph onto the company’s SES-14 geostationary communications satellite. The Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk instrument’s spectrograph is designed to measure temperatures and densities in the Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere to investigate ionospheric disruptions to navigation and communication transmissions, SES said Tuesday. SES-14 is built to provide C– […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Inmarsat, has said the launch of the fourth Boeing-built satellite for the Global Xpress satellite communications network seeks to validate Inmarsat’s efforts to promote resilience within its satcom offerings. The Inmarsat-5 F4 satellite lifted off Monday aboard a SpaceX-made Falcon 9 rocket from a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center […] More

The fourth Boeing-built broadband communications satellite launched into space Monday to join Inmarsat’s Global Xpress satellite communications network. The Inmarsat-5 F4 satellite took off aboard a SpaceX-made Falcon 9 rocket at 7:21 p.m. Eastern time from a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and transmitted telemetry data to a ground station in Perth, Western […] More

The Center for a New American Security has launched a new project that aims to analyze how the U.S. joint force should adapt to technological innovations of potential state and non-state adversaries. CNAS said Monday the Evolving the Future Force project is part of the center’s Defense Strategies and Assessments program and seeks to explore the […] More

Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has said eight of the first 10 Iridium NEXT satellites that took off in January began to provide data and voice transmission service between March and mid-April, Spaceflight Now reported Friday. Stephen Clark writes Desch said at a quarterly earnings call Thursday that engineers have begun to reposition the two other satellites […] More