Focus: Manufacturing

Rocket Lab USA confirmed Thursday that it finished testing and integration on the second of two Pioneer spacecraft it built for in-space pharmaceutical company, Varda Space Industries. Preparations are now being made for the launch of Varda’s second mission after the company secured launch and reentry permission from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier...

There is a critical need for resiliency in space, and diversification is the key to achieving it. Resiliency is achieved through disaggregation, distribution, diversification, protection, proliferation, and deception. All of these present a challenge and yet an opportunity. Of these, diversification presents the most opportunities for our industry. Diversification is imperative at all levels. It...

Quantic X-Microwave confirmed Wednesday that it was contracted by satellite communications systems developer SatixFy to provide up/down converters for the fully regenerative digital processed payload it installed on-board “JoeySat,” one of 16 satellites that SpaceX successfully launched in May for OneWeb and the European Space Agency (ESA). SatixFy utilized Quantic X-Microwave’s modular RF & microwave...

Canadian satellite operator Telesat announced Tuesday that it contracted Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) to build a new demonstration satellite named LEO 3, providing its first update on the development of its Lightspeed LEO constellation since announcing its Q1 results earlier this month. Telesat said it was decommissioning the Phase 1 LEO satellite it launched in...

Maxar Technologies is rebranding its lineup of satellites to show the company’s broad manufacturing capabilities, Maxar announced April 17. The rebrand includes new names to commercialize two spacecraft buses. The new portfolio consists of the Maxar 300 series, Maxar 500 series, and the Maxar 1300 series.  The Maxar 300 series is its smallest and most...

Loft Orbital has procured a second batch of 15 satellites from Airbus OneWeb Satellites, for the bus platform based on the OneWeb satellites. Loft Orbital announced the deal April 6, saying that it sold out of the first batch ordered in January 2022.  Loft Orbital has now ordered more than 30 buses from Airbus OneWeb...

Maxar Technologies has awarded L3Harris a contract to design and build reflector antennas for two Geostationary Orbit (GEO) communication satellites, the companies announced Wednesday. The two nine-meter unfurlable mesh reflector antennas will provide high-power signals and are designed to improve service quality across the satellites’ coverage areas. The antennas are designed with a flexible architecture...

Rivada Space Networks selected Terran Orbital to design and manufacture its constellation in a 300-satellite, deal worth $2.4 billion announced Wednesday.  Terran Orbital, through its subsidiary Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, will act as the prime contractor to design and manufacture the constellation with 288 satellites and 12 spares. Terran Orbital said the satellites weigh approximately 500...

JANUS-1, a 6U satellite built by Antaris and launched early Friday morning on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) SSLV-D2 rocket, has successfully reached orbit just 10 months after the satellite was initially conceived. Antaris, which designed and manufactured the satellite using the company’s end-to-end cloud platform, confirmed the successful delivery a few hours after...

Busek successfully commissioned its BHT-350 Hall effect thrusters on satellite operator OneWeb‘s 15th and 16th missions, which utilized separate SpaceX Falcon-9s to deliver 80 spacecraft into low Earth orbit (LEO). This is the first time Busek’s BHT-350 solar electric propulsion systems have flown in space. The Busek-built engines are now propelling the satellites, built by Airbus...