Iridium CEO Matt Desch has said prospective customers of the company’s next-generation satellites want to see quality of data that the new constellation could provide before making commitments through contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Andy Pasztor writes Desch told the publication in an interview that customers such as the Federal Aviation Administration are running a cost-benefit […] More

SpaceX has launched a Space Systems Loral-built communications satellite for Japanese company SKY Perfect JSAT into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The U.S. Air Force‘s 45th Space Wing supported the JCSAT-16 payload launch Sunday from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral AF Station in Florida, the service branch said Monday. JCSAT-16 is designed to serve as a […] More

NASA has awarded Southern Research a five-year, $10 million contract renewal to continue to support a video imaging system used on the space agency’s WB-57 research aircraft. The Airborne Imaging and Recording System is attached to the WB-57 nose cap and designed to process full motion videos of rockets that ascend into space at a distance of more than 25 miles, Southern Research […] More

Orbital ATK has transported the first two next-generation Iridium satellites to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of preparations for the scheduled liftoff on Sept. 19, Spaceflight Now reported Wednesday. Stephen Clark writes the satellites were shipped via truck from an Orbital ATK-run manufacturing facility near Phoenix to Vandenberg, where eight additional message transmission […] More

Sierra Nevada Corporation has awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a contract to provide an electrical power system for the former’s Dream Chaser commercial spacecraft designated by NASA to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station. Aerojet Rocketdyne said Tuesday it will design, create, test and install the electrical power system onto Dream Chaser as well as provide power conversion and […] More

Sierra Nevada Corp. has received approval from NASA for its strategy to launch and send the Dream Chaser spacecraft’s cargo system to the International Space Station. The approval marks the completion of the second integration certification phase for the space vehicle that will perform at least six cargo flights to the ISS from 2019 through […] More

Satellite operators have sent opinions to the Federal Communications Commission after an agency ruling that aims to make frequencies above 24 gigahertz available for fifth-generation wireless services, Space News reported Friday. Peter de Selding writes Boeing, EchoStar, Hughes Network Systems, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Iridium, O3b Networks, OneWeb, SES, SpaceX and ViaSat are among the companies that have submitted their opinions to […] More

Orbital ATK aims to launch a company-built Cygnus spacecraft for its sixth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station by Aug. 22 under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. NASA said Friday that Cygnus will lift off from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia onboard an Antares rocket. The […] More

A team of Thales Alenia Space and Orbital ATK has finished construction work on the first batch of communications satellites for Iridium‘s NEXT program, Spaceflight Now reported Wednesday. Stephen Clark writes the satellites are set for delivery to Vandenberg Air Force Base for fueling and mating with a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket prior to the launch of initial  satellites on Sept. 11, […] More

NASA has approved Sierra Nevada Corp.’s full program implementation plan for the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft that is contracted for at least six cargo delivery services to and from the International Space Station between 2019 and 2024. SNC said Monday that NASA evaluated the company’s design, development, test and evaluation methods in efforts to meet technical performance and […] More

A GPS navigation payload Raytheon built for the Federal Aviation Administration‘s Wide Area Augmentation System was launched aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday. Raytheon said Wednesday the WAAS GEO 5 payload is designed to support air navigation of commercial airline and general aviation pilots over a 12-year period. “Extremely accurate navigation technologies make this system a critical resource to […] More

Iridium Communications will launch the first line of its NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 12. The company said Tuesday Thales Alenia Space and Orbital ATK have completed assembly, integration and testing of the 81 satellites on the assembly line, which includes 66 operational satellites to replace the current Iridium network. “After more than seven […] More