fbpx

Do rocket science. We’ll do the rest.

Precious Payload helps teams ship satellites to space.

ABL and Virgin Orbit launches fail, SpiderOak and Capella Space raise millions, and Djibouti to build a spaceport

Precious Payload’s Weekly Smallsat News:

January 9–15, 2023

 

Everything you need to know about recent smallsat headlines around the universe. 

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here

 

 

Past Flights

🇺🇸Virgin Orbit’s ‘Start Me Up’ mission was unsuccessful in its launch from 🇬🇧Spaceport Cornwall on January 9, due to upper-stage failure. [VirginOrbit] Payloads on board: 

  1. 🇬🇧IOD-3 AMBER by Satellite Applications Catapult, 🇬🇧Horizon Technologies, and 🇬🇧AAC Clyde Space
  2. 🇬🇧Prometheus-2 by the Ministry of Defence, Airbus Defence, and Space and In-Space Missions Limited
  3. CIRCE by 🇬🇧Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and 🇺🇸Naval Research Laboratory
  4. DOVER by 🇬🇧RHEA Group, 🇪🇺ESA, and 🇬🇧Open Cosmos
  5. ForgeStar-0 by 🇬🇧Space Forge
  6. AMAN by the 🇴🇲Sultanate of Oman and 🇵🇱SatRev
  7. STORK-6 by 🇵🇱SatRev 

 

🇺🇸ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket failed to reach orbit due to an engine anomaly after launching from the 🇺🇸Pacific Spaceport Complex on January 10. [Space.com] Payloads on board were VariSat-1 and VariSat-2, part of a demonstration mission for inter-satellite linking and communication by 🇺🇸VariSat LLC. 

 

🇨🇳China launched its Chang Zheng 2D rocket with a commercial rideshare mission from 🇨🇳Xichang Satellite Launch Center on January 13. On board was Yaogan-37, sent to carry out in-orbit verification tests of new technologies such as space environment monitoring. Also on the rocket were Shiyan-22A and B, two Earth-observation payloads. [NASASpaceflight]

 

Launch Updates

🇸🇪Esrange Space Center, Europe’s first satellite orbital launch complex, officially opened in Kiruna on January 13. [Politico]

 

🇧🇬Endurosat’s 12U cubesat, propelled by 🇪🇸ienai SPACE, will be tested for collision avoidance using data from 🇵🇹Neuraspace. The launch is scheduled for 2023 aboard 🇩🇪Isar’s Spectrum rocket. [ViaSatellite]

 

🇺🇸Spaceflight signed an agreement with 🇨🇦Maritime Launch Services to launch five Sherpa OTVs aboard the Cyclone-4M rocket from 🇨🇦Spaceport Nova Scotia, starting in 2025. [SatelliteEvolution]

 

🇺🇸HawkEye 360’s Cluster 6 smallsats are slated for launch aboard an Electron rocket from the 🇺🇸Wallops flight facility on January 23 as part of 🇺🇸Rocket Lab’s ‘Virginia Is For Launch Lovers’ mission. [SmallsatNews]

 

🇩🇪Rocket Factory’s first launch of its RFA ONE launch system is planned for the end of 2023, lifting off from 🇬🇧SaxaVord Spaceport. [SpaceWatchGlobal]

 

🇩🇰Space Inventor offers their EDISON In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) Flight Opportunity as a part of the ESA Pioneer Programme. Planned for Q2 2024, the launch into a polar orbit aboard a 6U cubesat comes in at a ROM price of €94,000. [SatSearch]

 

Headlines

🇩🇯Djibouti signs an MoU with 🇭🇰HKATG and 🇧🇪Touchroad International Holdings Group for the development of a commercial spaceport worth $1B in the country over the next five years. [SpaceinAfrica]

 

🇺🇸Marshall Space Flight Center collaborates with 🇺🇸Los Alamos National Laboratory and the 🇺🇸University of Alabama on Cubespark, a six-cubesat lightning-mapping constellation. Launch plans TBA. [SpaceNews]

 

🇯🇵Axelspace’s AxelGlobe constellation data to be used for 🇨🇦NorthStar’s SSA object-monitoring project. [SpaceNews]

Funding 

🇺🇸SpiderOak raised $16.4M in a Series C funding round, to be used for in-orbit testing and secure flight heritage for its cyber security solutions. [SpaceWatchGlobal]

 

🇺🇸Capella Space gets $60M in funding from the 🇺🇸U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, which will help increase its imaging capabilities and accelerate the development of new data products. [SmallsatNews]

 

 

Check out Precious Payload’s Weekly Smallsat News: December 19, 2022–January 8, 2023

 

NO COMMENTS

POST A COMMENT