Focus: Smallsats

A spacecraft that will demonstrate a range of innovative technologies to clean up space debris has been deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) and will soon begin its experiments...

The demand for small satellite launches for both new installations and replacement missions is estimated to grow to 11,631 by 2030. This demand will derive primarily from commercial constellation operators...

The Satellite Applications Catapult has contracted Open Cosmos to provide its space mission service to the In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD-6) program. Through this mission, the Satellite Applications Catapult is expanding its...

Swarm Technologies, the start-up that launched four satellites illegally in January, has filed a new application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to gain permission to launch a further three...

Spaceflight, a satellite rideshare and mission management provider, has partnered with Rocket Lab for three upcoming launches. The first Electron mission, scheduled for the end of 2018, will launch a...

Firefly Aerospace has announced the execution of a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) for use of the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle. Under the agreement, Firefly...

It is said that history repeats itself, but could this be true of rockets launched from high-altitude balloons (aka rocoons)? Used in the 1950s Air Force program Farside, could rockoons...

Phase Four, a provider of electric Radio Frequency (RF) thrusters for in-space propulsion, has announced that NASA has purchased one of its second-generation RF thrusters to vet its capabilities for...

Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-basedsmall- to medium-satellite launch vehicle developer, has opened a new research and development center in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine. The new center will be named FireFly...

Orbital ATK successfully launched the company’s Antares rocket carrying its Cygnus spacecraft from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, Virginia, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The launch...