Tag: Ground
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SFL Successfully Launches Norway’s NorSat-4 with Advanced Maritime Monitoring Capabilities
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has confirmed the successful launch and deployment of Norway’s NorSat-4 maritime monitoring microsatellite. The seventh spacecraft developed for the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) by SFL, NorSat-4 carries a fifth-generation Automatic Identification System (AIS) ship tracking receiver and a first-of-its-kind low-light imaging camera. Built on SFL’s space-proven 35-kg DEFIANT microsatellite bus, NorSat-4…
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Rocket Lab’s Second Reentry Spacecraft for Varda Operating in Orbit for AFRL and NASA
Rocket Lab USA, a global leading company in launch services and space systems, announced its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, is successfully operating on orbit. The mission launched January 14, from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:09 PDT (19:09 UTC). Varda’s W-2 mission includes a Rocket Lab Pioneer spacecraft and a Varda re-entry…
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Space Flight Laboratory Successfully Launched Gray Jay Arctic Monitoring Microsatellites
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announces the launch and deployment of Canada’s Gray Jay Arctic surveillance technology demonstration mission. Developed by SFL for Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the three 30-kg formation-flying microsatellites launched January 14 aboard the SpaceX Transporter-12 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Gray Jay spacecraft launched on the same SpaceX…
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Stoke Space Secures $260 Million Investment for Reusable Rocket Development
Stoke Space, the rocket company building the world’s first 100% reusable medium-lift rocket, announced that it has raised $260 million in new Series C investment to drive continued growth and innovation. This investment more than doubles the company’s total funding, bringing it to $480 million. The funding round involves new and existing investors including Breakthrough…
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Varda Space Industries Launches W-2 Capsule with AFRL Payloads for Hypersonic Reentry Tests
Varda Space Industries, Inc. announced the successful launch of its second orbital processing and reentry capsule, W-2, which lifted off aboard the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The W-2 capsule carries payloads from Varda partners, including a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and employs a…
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20th Anniversary of Huygens Probe Landing on Titan Marks Space Exploration Milestone
On January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe made history by becoming the first spacecraft to land on Titan, Saturn’s largest and most mysterious moon. This spectacular achievement, the result of exemplary international collaboration, pushed back the frontiers of interplanetary exploration and stands today as an unprecedented feat of engineering and science. A Historic Journey to…
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NASA Opens Media Accreditation for Cosmic Origins and Solar Wind Mission Launch
Media accreditation is open for the launch of two NASA missions that will explore the mysteries of our universe and Sun. The agency is targeting late February to launch its SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory, a space telescope that will create a 3D map of…
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Planet Set to Launch Pelican-2 and 36 SuperDove Satellites for High-Resolution Imaging
Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of daily Earth data and insights, announced that its high-resolution Pelican-2 satellite & 36 SuperDoves of Flock 4G are scheduled to launch on the Transporter-12 Rideshare mission with SpaceX on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX’s launch window opens at 10:49 a.m. PT,…
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Northrop Grumman Accelerates Development of MBRV-11 for Next-Generation Interceptor Testing
Northrop Grumman Corporation is developing the Modified Ballistic Re-Entry Vehicle-11 (MBRV-11) supporting the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Integrated Master Test Plan (IMTP) to test the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI). Through a close partnership with MDA, Northrop Grumman significantly expedited the development timeline for MBRV-11, moving from contract award through Critical Design Review (CDR) in less…
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BlackSky Secures USSF Rapid Procurement Contract to Support TacSRT Mission
BlackSky Technology, a space-based intelligence company that provides real-time imagery, analytics, and monitoring of critical locations and events, has won multiple rapid procurement contracts for its high-margin, core analytics services through the U.S. Space Force’s online Global Data Marketplace (GDM) supporting a variety of Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) missions. “One year in operation,…