Focus: Smallsats

Impulse Space has two new offerings to help satellites reach Geostationary Orbit (GEO). The company announced Tuesday it will offer a rideshare program to GEO for small satellites using its Helios kick stage starting in 2027. In addition, Impulse Space updated the design of its Mira orbital transfer vehicle to enable operations in GEO.  ...

SpaceX launched 53 payloads in the Falcon 9 Transporter-10 smallsat rideshare mission, SpaceX’s first rideshare mission of 2024. The mission launched from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 4 at 2:05 p.m. PT. This was the tenth dedicated rideshare mission organized by SpaceX. Aboard the Transporter-10 mission were...

One year after being acquired by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, smallsat manufacturer NanoAvionics is on the cusp of signing constellation contracts, CEO Vytenis Buzas told Via Satellite in a recent interview. The company expects to announce serial manufacturing orders in 2024. Negotiations include constellations up to 100 satellites, to be built within three to five...

Honeywell is teaming up with Aegiq, a quantum networking and computing company, to bring better technology solutions for small satellites. Honeywell announced the collaboration, Sept. 13. The two companies are going to look to create a comprehensive solution to enable more precise and cost-effective design and deployment of space payloads and related ground assets. The...

Kongsberg NanoAvionics recently opened a new manufacturing facility in Vilnius, Lithuania, that the company said will double its satellite production capability. NanoAvionics also aims to hire more than 100 people across its offices this year to grow headcount by 40%.  NanoAvionics said the production expansion, located next to its headquarters, will help it meet the...

SpaceX kicked off 2023 with a rideshare mission on Tuesday morning, launching 114 spacecraft to orbit. The mission — Transporter 6 — was the sixth in SpaceX’s series of dedicated rideshare missions for smallsat customers.  A Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 9:56 a.m. ET. The mission...

Propulsion company Morpheus Space and space situational awareness company Kayhan Space recently announced a strategic partnership to offer a collision avoidance service with Morpheus Space propulsion with built-in Kayhan Space Pathfinder software.  It is a pay-as-you-go subscription with preemptive collision avoidance and on-orbit maneuver options. The companies said operators can purchase Delta-V fuel and complete...

Benchmark Space Systems is rolling out a satellite collision avoidance kit — ColA — that the propulsion company says is an affordable, plug-and-play safety accessory for microsat and ESPA-class satellites.  The chemical propulsion solution is a smaller version of Benchmark’s heritage Halcyon thruster and is designed for electric propulsion and non-propulsive microsatellites to help them...

Benchmark Space Systems is rolling out a satellite collision avoidance kit — ColA — that the propulsion company says is an affordable, plug-and-play safety accessory for microsat and ESPA-class satellites. The chemical propulsion solution is a smaller version of Benchmark’s heritage Halcyon thruster and is designed for electric propulsion and non-propulsive microsatellites to help them quickly...

NanoAvionics is expanding its flagship satellite bus line with a larger bus to meet customer demand for microsats. The company announced Wednesday it is adding the MP42H and the MP42D to its product line based on its flagship MP42 bus. The MP42D is double the size of the MP42 bus, and can accommodate payloads of...