Tag: Spaceflight Industries
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LeoStella satellite venture hands over CEO reins to aerospace executive Mike Hettich
Mike Hettich has taken over as LeoStella’s CEO. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) TUKWILA, Wash. — Mike Hettich has finally completed his transition from chief learning officer to chief executive officer at LeoStella, the satellite manufacturing joint venture headquartered here. Hettich came to LeoStella from Kirkland, Wash.-based Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems, where he served as vice…
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Seattle rideshare space company wins a shout-out for disrupting launch industry
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sends 64 satellites into space from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in December 2018 to kick off Spaceflight’s SSO-A satellite rideshare mission. (SpaceX Photo) Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries has taken the spotlight in a research note from Morgan Stanley for disrupting the process of putting satellites in space — in a good way.…
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Israeli lunar lander passes tests in preparation for SpaceX launch to the moon
SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander is suspended at a payload processing facility in Florida. (SpaceIL Photo via Twitter) The managers of Israel’s first mission to the moon say their lunar lander has passed a crucial set of tests in preparation for February’s launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with an assist from a Seattle space…
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FCC levies $900,000 fine against Swarm Technologies for unlawful satellite launch
As initially designed, Swarm Technologies’ controversial SpaceBEE satellites were each roughly the size of a sandwich. (Swarm Technologies Illustration via FCC) The Federal Communications Commission says Swarm Technologies must pay a $900,000 fine and be subject to increased scrutiny for having a tiny set of satellites launched without authorization. The penalties were laid out in…
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Spaceflight signs up Brazil for Amazonia-1 satellite launch on Indian rocket in 2020
An artist’s conception shows the Amazonia-1 satellite. (INPE Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight says it’s struck one of its biggest deals for a satellite launch with Brazil’s space research institute, focusing on putting the Amazonia-1 satellite into low Earth orbit in mid-2020. The contract was awarded on Tuesday during a ceremony in São José dos Campos, attended by…
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Images start to stream in from new crop of satellites after two launch extravaganzas
A satellite image of Beijing, captured by one of Planet’s SkySat spacecraft, shows the Chinese capital’s futuristic high-speed rail station toward the left edge of the frame. (Planet Photo) More than 100 payloads have been put into orbit over the past couple of weeks, including 64 satellites riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and 31…
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Third time’s the charm: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a record 64 satellites for Spaceflight
SpaceX’s first triple-launched Falcon 9 booster lights up to send 64 satellites into space. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched Seattle-based Spaceflight’s first-ever dedicated rideshare mission, a satellite extravaganza aimed at placing 64 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Today’s liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California came off at 10:34 a.m. PT, sending…
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Spaceflight’s 64-satellite extravaganza inches closer to SpaceX launch
A twice-flown SpaceX Falcon booster is readied for its third mission, set for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Scorch marks give the first-stage booster a “sooty” appearance. (SpaceX Photo via Twitter) Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries is closing in on what’s shaping up as a grand convergence in commercial space. Spaceflight, which handles launch logistics…
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India’s PSLV rocket launches BlackSky’s Global-1 satellite (plus 30 other satellites)
India’s PSLV rocket lifts off to send 31 satellites into orbit. (ISRO Video) The first Earth observation satellite for Seattle-based BlackSky’s Global constellation has been sent into orbit aboard an Indian rocket. Global-1 was just one of 30 secondary payloads for the PSLV-C43 mission, launched at 9:57 a.m. local time Thursday (8:27 p.m. PT Wednesday)…
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With Spaceflight’s help, LeoStella moves ahead with Seattle-area satellite factory
LeoStella’s satellite manufacturing facility will be in a business park in Tukwila. (Sabey Photo) TUKWILA, Wash. — Today it’s an empty office building in a business park south of Seattle, not far from a Mexican restaurant and an organic nursery. But within just a few months, the place will be turning out two to three satellites per…