SpaceX launched a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and 54 satellites during a week that saw seven launches conducted worldwide over a six-day period. Rocket Lab set a new record, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V flew a rare commercial mission, and China orbited a new solar telescope.

MCLEAN, Va. (Intelsat PR) — Intelsat, operator of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial network and leading provider of inflight connectivity, announced the successful launch of Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34, geosynchronous communications satellites that will ensure service continuity to Intelsat’s North American media customers.

MANASSAS, Va. (Aurora Flight Sciences PR) — Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, is designing and building two next generation motherships to support the air launch of Virgin Galactic’s spaceship. Since early 2022, Aurora and Virgin Galactic teams have been working together on the design concepts for the new aircraft.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Following unusual seismic disturbances in the Baltic Sea, several leaks were discovered last week in the underwater Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, near Denmark and Sweden. Neither pipeline was transporting gas at the time of the blasts, but they still contained pressurised methane – the main component of natural gas – which spewed out producing a wide stream of bubbles on the sea surface.

Contract worth $17.6M is part of The U.S. Space Force’s mission to demonstrate end-to-end tactical responsive space capabilities

CEDAR PARK, Texas, October 3, 2022 (Firefly Aerospace PR) – Firefly Aerospace, Inc, announced today that the company has been selected by The U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) to provide launch services for SSC’s VICTUS NOX mission. The effort was awarded as the Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS-3) Launch Service Task Order under the Orbital Services Program 4 (OSP-4) Contract.

With its stock battered below $1 due to repeated launch failures, Astra Space suffered another blow on Thursday when it received a deficiency notice from Nasdaq saying the company would be delisted until less it can increase its share price.

LONG BEACH, Calif. Oct. 7, 2022 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today broke its annual launch record with the launch of “It Argos Up From Here,” a dedicated launch for General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS). The mission was Rocket Lab’s 31^st Electron launch overall and the eighth for the year to date, besting the company’s previous record of seven launches in 2020. Rocket Lab has now successfully launched a mission every month since April 2022, delivering frequent and reliable access to orbit.

WASHINGTON (SDA PR) — The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it has awarded a firm-fixed price Other Transaction prototype agreement, with a total potential value of approximately $200 million, to York Space Systems of Denver, Colorado, for the establishment of the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) Program.

With the agreement finalized Sept. 30, 2022, York will provide 12 satellites and supporting capabilities to augment the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) constellation with demonstration and experimentation of tactical satellite communication (TACSATCOM) and Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) capabilities from low Earth orbit.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina arrived at the International Space Station Thursday Oct. 6, as the SpaceX Dragon Endurance docked to the complex at 5:01 p.m. EDT while the spacecraft were flying 258 miles above the west coast of Africa.

MOJAVE, Calif. (Virgin Orbit PR) –Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB), a leading responsive launch provider, announced today that its latest rocket has completed a full launch rehearsal and is now ready for flight. The window for the company’s next launch, planned to be the first orbital space launch from the U.K., will be determined by the launch permitting regulatory process.

Contract worth $17.6M is part of The U.S. Space Force’s mission to demonstrate end-to-end tactical responsive space capabilities

CEDAR PARK, Texas (Firefly Aerospace PR) — Firefly Aerospace, Inc, announced today that the company has been selected by The U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) to provide launch services for SSC’s VICTUS NOX mission. The effort was awarded as the Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS-3) Launch Service Task Order under the Orbital Services Program 4 (OSP-4) Contract.

The VICTUS NOX mission will demonstrate an end-to-end Tactically Responsive Space capability, including the launch segment, space segment, ground segment, and on-orbit operations. VICTUS NOX will perform a Space Domain Awareness (SDA) mission from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6, 2022 (Orbital Sidekick PR) — Orbital Sidekick (OSK), the first U.S. commercial company to deploy hyperspectral sensors in space, announced today that it has been selected once again by the intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE) to serve as the company’s technology partner. OSK will have an opportunity to advance its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation known as GHOSt, which is set to launch in 2023. The hyperspectral imaging (HSI) constellation consists of six 100-kg ESPA class satellites for the launches on SpaceX’s Transporter program.