AST SpaceMobile will launch the prototype satellite BlueWalker 3 for its space-to-cell network on a SpaceX rocket in March 2022. The company announced the launch agreement on July 29.  Describing its BlueWalker 3 test satellite, AST SpaceMobile said it has an aperture of 693 square feet and is designed to communicate directly with cell phones…

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has returned to flight after a May launch failure with a mission for the U.S. Space Force.  The mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 18:00 NZT on July 29. The Electron rocket deployed an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)-sponsored demonstration satellite called…

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Avio a contract to develop a new version of the Vega launch vehicle, Vega-E. The contract, announced July 23, is worth 118.8 million euros ($140 million). ESA did not announce when the rocket variation would be ready for flight.  Vega is Europe’s light launcher that operates from Europe’s…

The global shutdown in 2020 had impacts across the satellite and space sector, but there were no uniform effects and there is no industry-wide blueprint for getting back on track, as customer operations and supply chains try to return activities to pre-pandemic levels. Carissa Christensen, CEO of analytics firm BryceTech says launch providers did not…