Tag: LEO
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China’s Long March 10B Nails First Net Catch at Sea
Is China’s Net-Catch Booster Recovery a Viable Third Architecture? China’s state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) recovered an orbital-class booster for the first time on July 11, 2026, catching the Long March 10B first stage in a tensioned cable net mounted to an offshore vessel — a recovery method distinct from both SpaceX’s…
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China Lands Orbital Rocket First Time in Net at Sea
Does China Now Have a Reusable Orbital Rocket? China recovered an orbital rocket’s first stage for the first time on July 10, 2026 — and did it in a way no one has tried before. The Long March 10B’s maiden flight lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site at 12:15 p.m. Beijing time,…
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FCC Greenlights Reflect Orbital’s 18m Sun Mirror Sat
Does the FCC Have Authority to Regulate Space-Based Sunlight Mirrors? The FCC said no — and on July 9, it formally authorized Eärendil-1, Reflect Orbital’s 142-kilogram demonstrator satellite equipped with an 18-meter-per-side thin-film reflector designed to bounce sunlight onto nighttime regions of Earth. The spacecraft is planned for launch later this year into a low…
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Mercantile Space Partners with Rivada for LEO Connectivity Services
Mercantile Space, a communications technology company, has partnered with Rivada Space Networks to provide a next-generation connectivity network with the necessary security and performance to drive digital innovation and transformation. Rivada has now lined up over $US20 billions of business globally for its LEO network. Mercantile Space, alongside its parent company Mercantile Communications, has been…
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Skyroot Vikram-1 Targets July 12 Orbital Launch
Is Skyroot’s Vikram-1 India’s First Private Orbital Rocket? Yes — and the launch window opens July 12. Skyroot Aerospace has placed its Vikram-1 rocket on the pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, targeting a window that runs from July 12 through August 4, 2026. The mission, designated Aagaman, is a test flight of what the…
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Axiom Space Relocates to Texas to Expand Space Ecosystem
Axiom Space, the leader in commercial human space exploration, announced it has officially changed the company’s legal domicile from Delaware to Texas, planting its roots deeper in the state that shares its conviction: what happens in space profoundly shapes life on Earth. The move aligns the company’s legal home with its operational headquarters in Houston,…
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United Launch Alliance Successfully Delivers 29 Amazon Leo Broadband Satellites
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Leo 8 mission for Amazon lifted off on July 2 at 12:30:15 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This mission continues to build on ULA’s increase in commercial launch services, now accounting for half of ULA’s overall business. “ULA…
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Atlas 5 Ends Satellite Launches with 29 Amazon Leo Sats
Did the Atlas 5 Just Fly Its Last Satellite Mission? Yes — and it went out with a clean record. An Atlas 5 551 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. Eastern on July 2, 2026, deploying 29 Amazon Leo satellites beginning 21 minutes after liftoff and completing the full deployment…
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Latitude Targets Late 2027 First Launch from Oman’s Etlaq
Does Latitude Plan to Launch from Oman? Yes. French small launch vehicle startup Latitude announced July 1, 2026 that it signed a letter of intent with Etlaq Spaceport to conduct an "experimental" first launch from the coastal southern Oman facility in late 2027. The rocket is designed to place up to 200 kilograms into low…
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NASA’s $30M Swift Rescue Launches on Pegasus XL’s Final Flight
Can NASA’s $30M LINK Satellite Really Save the Swift Observatory? At 4:36 a.m. EDT on July 3, 2026, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket completed its 45th — and final — mission, air-launching Katalyst Space Technologies’ LINK satellite from the L-1011 Stargazer carrier aircraft above the Marshall Islands. The target: NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory,…