Astra Space’s first attempt to place satellites into orbit failed on Thursday, with the company’s Rocket 3.3 tumbling out of control after ignition of the booster’s second stage. Astra’s stock (ASTR) plunged by as more than 31 percent to a low of $3.59 before recovering to $3.91 in after-hours trading.

PARIS (ESA PR) — The final figures are in and the number of people who applied to ESA’s 2021-22 astronaut vacancy has been broken down by Member and Cooperating State.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will give an update on the development of Starship and Super Heavy boosters live from Starbase in Texas on Thursday at 9 p.m. EST (02:00 UTC on Friday). You can watch the webcast at www.spacex.com. Arianespace will launch 34 OneWeb satellites aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:09 p.m. EST (18:09 UTC). You can watch the launch […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., February 10, 2022 (Spire Global/Exolaunch PR) – Spire Global, a leading provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, and Exolaunch, the premier global provider of launch, in-space logistics and deployment services, have closed a new contract for a multi-launch agreement (MLA). Through this MLA, Spire gains fast and regular access to space for its own satellite constellation as well as for all of its customers to enhance Spire’s “space-as-a-service” offerings.

The first Spire satellites deployed as part of this agreement are already manifested on SpaceX’s Transporter missions this year under Exolaunch’s long-term launch arrangements with SpaceX. Exolaunch will also be providing Spire with deployment and integration services on small launchers.

SINGAPORE, 10 February 2022 (Rocket Factory Augsburg PR) – Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA), Europe’s leading launch service provider, has partnered with Southern Launch, a South Australian rocket launch service provider. The partnership allows for the German launcher RFA ONE to be launched from Southern Launch’s launch sites; the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia. Southern Launch’s orbital complex provides direct ascent into sun-synchronous and polar orbits. 

Unprecedented Detail Enables Monitoring of Natural Capital, Participation in Carbon Markets

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2022 (TerraPulse PR) — TerraPulse, Inc., the green technology startup that introduced the world’s first high-resolution satellite map of global tree canopy cover in 2013, today announced the company has again broken the record for resolution in global mapping. 

• New milestones achieved in the company’s planned 2022 deployment of global cell-towers-in-space service
• Lynk publishes image of new satellite design

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 8, 2022 (Lynk Global PR) – Lynk Global, Inc. (Lynk), the world’s leading satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company, today announced the successful completion of pre-commercial tests for its fifth satellite. The completion of this technical milestone advances toward Lynk’s planned deployment of its global ‘cell-towers-in-space’ service later this year.

TORONTO, February 9, 2022 – Magellan Aerospace Corporation (“Magellan”) announced today a contract award from MDA Ltd. (“MDA”) to provide spacecraft avionics for their next Earth observation mission named CHORUS. The new spacecraft builds on MDA’s RADARSAT heritage and will continue the work of RADARSAT-2, which remains operational serving its worldwide customer base. The avionics subsystems for CHORUS will be developed at Magellan’s Winnipeg facility, home of western Canada’s Advanced Satellite Integration Facility.

Magellan has expertise in the development of satellites buses and spacecraft avionics. In 2019, Magellan delivered three satellite buses for the Canadian Space Agency’s RADARSAT Constellation Mission under subcontract from MDA. These satellites, launched into orbit in June 2019, combine the Magellan satellite buses and the MDA C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.

WOBURN, Mass., Feb. 8, 2022 (SSCI PR) — Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI), an industry leader and pioneer in autonomous systems, has conducted initial demonstrations of its AI-enabled edge processing system as part of the Prototype On-Orbit Experimental Testbed (POET) experiment for the Space Development Agency (SDA). POET is hosted onboard Loft Orbital’s YAM-3, a “satellite-as-a-service” platform which was launched June 30, 2021 on Space-X’s Transporter-2 mission. POET’s space-based edge processing system is powered by SSCI’s Collaborative Mission Autonomy (CMA) software. POET provides an on-orbit SDA data fusion application prototype within the CMA software running on POET’s Innoflight CFC-400, a low size, weight, and power, highly capable, 0.5U size commercial off-the-shelf space processor.

SpeQtral-1 will perform trusted node quantum key distribution over intercontinental distances with partners globally

SINGAPORE, Feb. 9, 2022 (SpeQtral PR) — SpeQtral, an emerging leader in quantum-secure communication systems, announces today at the Global Space and Technology Convention, the official kickoff of its forthcoming Quantum Key Distribution (“QKD”) satellite mission in space, SpeQtral-1.

The SpeQtral-1 satellite is expected to be launched in 2024, and is primed to be one of the first few QKD satellite missions to be launched by a commercial entity. It will demonstrate the technological feasibility of intercontinental out-of-band symmetric key delivery with a focus on addressing practical commercial requirements of end users. In this commercial pilot phase, entities interested in securing their data communications with QKD would be able to use SpeQtral-1 to receive quantum keys.

The fate of Spaceport Camden in Georgia will be decided in a special election on March 8, The Current reports. Opponents of the spaceport gathered the signatures of more than 10 percent of the county’s registered voters to put the issue to a vote. Probate Judge Robert C. Sweatt Jr. issued an order verifying the referendum after the court determined that 3,516 valid voter signatures had been submitted. The requirement […]

LAFAYETTE, Colo., Feb 9, 2022 (Blue Canyon Technologies PR) — Small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies LLC (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, today announced that several of their components successfully launched aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-3 mission last month.

For this rideshare mission, Blue Canyon provided reaction wheels and the company’s integrated Attitude Control Systems, known as the XACT and FleXcore, to support four CubeSats and five microsats, all of which showcase the company’s expansive product line. With partners such as Capella Space and several other commercial customers, Blue Canyon is working to enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy.