Tag Archives: SpaceX

Sixty SpaceX-operated small satellites aboard the Falcon 9 rocket were sent to low Earth orbit to join the Starlink broadband constellation that is being established by the company to deliver high-speed broadband internet connection to rural or remote communities.

Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, has received a 2021 Wash100 Award, the most prestigious award in all of government contracting (GovCon), for driving company growth, developing groundbreaking space technology and expanding our space capabilities. This marks the fourth time in her federal career that Shotwell has won a Wash100 Award. 

A Jacobs-built satellite has concluded payload checkout operations and is now conducting radio frequency survey support as part of its designated activities in sun-synchronous orbit. Jacobs said Tuesday that Mango One launched as a rideshare payload aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the Transporter One mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in January.

HawkEye 360 announced that its Cluster 2 satellites meant to geolocate radio frequency signals and deliver RF geospatial intelligence data to customers have completed functional testing and reached initial operating capability status. Cluster 2 is composed of three satellites that launched in January aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket and features GNSS antenna to detect GPS interference and increased computing capabilities capabilities for onboard data processing.

Spaceflight has received a contract from NASA to perform launch services in support of a mission led by The Aerospace Corp. under the space agency's CubeSat Launch Initiative. Spaceflight said Monday it will use its Sherpa-LTC orbital test vehicle to propel two Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density cubesats to low-Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

Capella Space and In-Q-Tel have formed a strategic partnership to advance technology development efforts and bring commercial satellite imagery to government agencies. The announcement of the partnership coincides with the release of first high-resolution synthetic aperture radar images from the company's Capella-3 and Capella-4 satellites.

SpaceX will provide NASA with space asset and debris location data that will be gathered through the global navigation satellite service receivers of the Starlink spacecraft to address conjunction and collision risks. NASA said Friday its partnership with SpaceX is aimed at ensuring that the company's Starlink satellites and the agency's spacecraft are coordinated to avoid a collision or prevent a close approach between the assets.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has launched a batch of 60 satellites that will serve as part of the company's Starlink broadband constellation in low-Earth orbit, SpaceNews reported Sunday. The mission, which serves as Falcon 9's eighth launch of the year, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:01 a.m. Eastern time.

SpaceX has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission seeking a blanket license to operate Earth Stations in Motion equipment that will communicate with its Starlink satellite constellation, SpaceNews reported Monday. “Granting this application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based components for SpaceX's satellite system that will expand the range of broadband capabilities available to moving vehicles throughout the United States and to moving vessels and aircraft worldwide,“ the regulatory filing reads.

Executive Mosaic is pleased to introduce Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency (SDA), as an inductee of the Wash100 Award for the first time. Tournear has become a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient for his leadership and commitment to satellite tech as well as maintaining the U.S.'s advantage over the space domain. 

Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded an $8.5 million contract to SpaceX to enhance manufacturing technologies used to produce hypersonic-capable thermal protection systems, Space News reported Monday.

The Space Development Agency plans to release a solicitation in August to buy 150 satellites and expects those spacecraft to be in orbit by 2024 to support the development of a multilayered system designed to improve surveillance and transmit data to weapons and ground systems, Federal News Network reported Tuesday. “What our architecture is based on is proliferation and spiral development,“ Derek Tournear, director of SDA and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said Tuesday at a Space Foundation event.

William Gerstenmaier, a former NASA senior leader who has been serving as a consultant at SpaceX over the past year, will assume the duties of Hans Koenigsmann as vice president of the company's build and flight reliability engineering group, CNBC reported Tuesday.

Microsatellite technology maker Umbra has received $32 million during a recent funding round and is planning to use the financing to continue spacecraft production and support commercial launch efforts.

SpaceX has sent its Falcon 9 launch vehicle to orbit carrying 143 spacecraft including 10 small satellites that will serve as part of the company's Starlink broadband constellation, CNBC reported Sunday.