Virgin Orbit will buy two Boeing 747-400 airframes under an agreement with L3Harris Technologies to meet the increasing demand for satellite launches among U.S. national security customers and its allies. Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris said Tuesday it will modify and deliver one of the aircraft in 2023 to serve as the second airborne launcher for Virgin […] More

Virgin Orbit will conduct an aircraft-ground equipment integration test as part of preparations to launch multiple government satellites for the U.S. Space Force. The company said Monday its national security arm will play a key role in providing orbital services for USSF’s STP-28A mission under the Department of Defense-run Space Test Program. Vox Space, which […] More

Candace Givens, a more than 20-year defense industry leader and spaceflight engineering executive, has joined Virgin Orbit as vice president of engineering. She will work closely with Kevin Sagis, chief engineer and senior vice president of technology at Virgin Orbit, as the company continues to scale up its space launch operations to meet the increasing demand […] More

Steve Carney, a two-decade government technology market veteran, has joined public safety interoperability platform vendor Mutualink as executive director of federal programs. He will aim to grow Mutualink’s technology offerings, strategic customer accounts and partnerships within the government market, the company said Thursday. His appointment comes after Wallingford, Connecticut-based technology vendor rolled out its LNK360 […] More

Palantir Technologies announced on Monday that it has secured a firm-fixed-price contract worth approximately $32.5 million to support the U.S Space Force (USSF) and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) by providing its software to the critical missions of the Department of the Air Force (DAF), Space and Missile Systems Center’s Cross-Mission Ground and Communications Enterprise […] More

Virgin Orbit has demonstrated prelaunch and flight procedures for a rocket the company designed to help customers bring small satellites into orbit. LauncherOne's booster engine lighted on cue after the vehicle launched from a Cosmic Girl carrier aircraft during the initial demonstration off the California coast above the Pacific Ocean.

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Virgin Orbit’s VOX Space subsidiary has received a $35M contract under the U.S. Space Force’s Orbital Services Program-4 contract vehicle to launch three smallsat missions in support of a Department of Defense program.

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Susan Mashiko, a retired U.S. Air Force major general and former deputy director at the National Reconnaissance Office. has joined the board of directors of Virgin Orbit's VOX Space subsidiary.

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NASA collaborated with small-satellite launch services provider Virgin Orbit to produce a rocket combustion chamber using the additive manufacturing method.

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NASA has entered collaborative partnerships with 10 private companies in a move to further space technologies built to grow the commercial space sector and support future space agency missions. The space agency said Friday its space technology mission directorate forged the alliances via the Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity solicitation that paves the way for space act agreements between […] More

Dan Hart, a 34-year veteran of Boeing and former vice president of its government satellite systems business, has been appointed president of Virgin Orbit — a small satellite launch services venture spun out of Virgin Group‘s commercial space company Virgin Galactic. Virgin Orbit is headquartered in Long Beach, California, and aims to help clients launch small satellites with the LauncherOne […] More

Honeywell and Israel Aerospace Industries have forged a partnership to develop a sensor system for IAI’s Heron unmanned aircraft systems product line with funds from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation. The sense-and-avoid technology will utilize Honeywell’s software, algorithms, hardware and inputs from various sensors contained in a line-replaceable unit to help track nearby aircraft and avoid collision […] More