The concept of a “brick-launcher”, or “micro-launcher” able to launch one or two nanosat-sized spacecraft, has been mooted for a few years. Japan has now begun the era with a successful launch at 0503 GMT on 2 February of its SS-520-5 rocket, which carried the 3...
Effective Space, a UK-based in-orbit satellite servicing company, has signed a US$100 million-plus multi-year contract with an undisclosed regional satellite operator. The agreement will see two of its SPACE DRONE™ spacecraft launched in 2020, providing in-orbit...
Following on from a second “order” to lease an MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) for five years, Orbital ATK has begun the design for the construction of MEV-2. Orbital ATK originally committed to building MEV-1 in April 2016 after Intelsat committed to...
The Scottish small satellite manufacturer Clyde Space is to be sold to the Swedish space firm AAC Microtec in a cash and mainly share deal overall worth US$35.3 million. Craig Clark, the CEO of the Clydespace firm which was founded by him in 2005, is thought to be a...
After being attached to the International Space Station (ISS) for over three weeks (grappled and berthed on 14 November), it was time for the disposable Cygnus OA-8 (Gene Cernan) cargo spacecraft to leave. Cygnus OA-8 was unberthed from the Unity module at 1752 GMT...
While X-Band is the traditional military communications band for satellite transmissions, it is somewhat limited in bandwidth. As such, an export customer of the German submarine manufacturer ThyssenKrupp has specified that it wants Ku-band terminals for its mast...
