D-Orbit signs contract with SpaceX for expanded launch capacity on upcoming rideshare missionsMay 6th, 2025D-Orbit, the global leader in space logistics and orbital transportation, announced today they signed a contract with SpaceX for additional launch capacity on upcoming Transporter rideshare missions. The agreement of sixteen ports across multiple missions supports D-Orbit’s ongoing mission to provide responsive and reliable in-orbit delivery and operations services for commercial and institutional customers worldwide. This new capacity will enable D-Orbit to further scale its offering of launch, last-mile delivery services, and in-orbit demonstration opportunities for third-party payloads. It also reflects the company’s commitment to ensuring continuous, high-frequency access to space for its growing customer base. “With a strong flight heritage, proven technology, and a clear roadmap toward in-orbit servicing, we are proud to continue launching with SpaceX,” said Monica Valli, VP of Operations at D-Orbit. “These secured ports allow us to maintain the flexibility and reliability our customers require while continuing to expand the range of services we can deliver in orbit.” ION Satellite Carrier (ION) is D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle designed to deploy satellites into precise orbital slots and operate hosted payloads post-deployment. Since its first mission in 2020, D-Orbit has launched 17 ION missions with increasing complexity, and four additional launches are scheduled for 2025. The growing fleet of IONs is also the foundation for the development of next generation in-orbit services, including edge computing, data relay, and advanced in orbit demonstrations. D-Orbit’s infrastructure-as-a-service approach is enabling a new chapter of scalable, sustainable space operations, helping pave the way toward a circular space economy.
This STA is necessary to authorize launch vehicle communications for SpaceX Falcon 9 Mission 2245 launching from LC-39a at KSC or LC-40 at CCSFS. This application includes a frequency swap for stage 1 and stage 2, with 2211 and and 2287.5 MHz assigned to Stage 2 to mitigate RF interference. Application includes a sub-orbital first stage booster and an orbital second stage. Trajectory data will be provided directly to NTIA, USAF, and NASA.Operation Start Date: 06/01/2025Operation End Date: 12/01/2025
The two sides affirmed their desire to expand cooperation in exchanging satellite data, including from Compact Advanced Satellite 4 (CAS500-4) scheduled for launch in 2026, to enhance the usability of satellite data, increase the interoperability of satellites of both countries, and strengthen agricultural monitoring and real-time response capabilities to disasters and emergencies.
Exolaunch is announcing new, multi-year launch contracts with SpaceX that extend its small satellite launch capacity through 2028 on upcoming rideshare missions.The new launch contracts span traditional Transporter missions to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), as well as additional mid-inclination, near-polar and dawn-dusk missions, covering a wide range of launch demands. Exolaunch can integrate and deploy the full range of satellites — from CubeSats up to 16U, to microsatellites ranging from 20 to 800 kilograms and larger payloads.Exolaunch has launched with SpaceX since 2020, executing more than 160 contracts to date and successfully deploying more than 400 diverse satellites across 20 missions aboard Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. These missions have delivered payloads to LEO SSO, mid-inclination orbits, geostationary orbit (GEO), and deep space.[...]Exolaunch's flight-proven deployment hardware includes the CarboNIX microsatellite separation rings, EXOport multi-satellite adapters, EXOpod Nova CubeSat deployers, and Quadro four-point separation systems for microsatellites. Exolaunch is set to launch several new separation systems for microsatellites and CubeSats on upcoming missions, continually refining and expanding its product line to address the evolving deployment needs of the global satellite industry.
This STA is required for pre-launch customer payload RF testing for the Bluebird-2 missions inside either the SpaceX Payload Processing Facility (PPF) or the LC-40 Hangar Annex at CCSFS. This STA is not for flight.Operation Start Date: 07/31/2025Operation End Date: 01/31/2026
Avellan said their next launch will be using IRSO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). From there, he said they will shift their focus to launching with Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which are capable of carrying eight and four Block 2 BlueBird satellites, respectively.
The NEO Surveyor mission, designed to improve detection capabilities to find greater than 90 percent of NEOs 140 meters (m) or larger within about a decade of being launched in 2028, will roughly triple NASA's current capability.
NASA leads work on GRACE-C in partnership with DLR, building on a relationship established in the 1990s for GRACE and GRACE-FO. The GRACE-C mission concept evolved from the GRACE-FO design and targets a launch in a near-polar orbit in FY 2029 to maintain continuity with the mass change record from GRACE-FO.[...]This budget provides an updated lifecycle cost based on improved planning and estimates consistent with the budget approved at confirmation (May 2024), which supports launch readiness in July 2029.
NEO Surveyor on Track to Meet Cost and Schedule EstimatesAs of March 2025, NEO Surveyor was on track to launch no later than June 2028 despite two major contract renegotiation delays and limited cost reserves (known as unallocated future expenses or UFE) in FYs 2024 and 2025.19 The NEO Surveyor project remains on its current schedule following a replan in 2022. The replan was necessary due to funding constraints that increased the baseline cost estimate from $1 billion to $1.6 billion and delayed the projected launch date from 2026 to 2028.[...]This includes testing for a major component of NEO Surveyor, the instrument enclosure, designed to protect the spacecraft’s infrared telescope while also dissipating heat during operations. After assembly at JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility, the enclosure was moved to Johnson Space Center for testing that replicates the frigid, airless conditions the spacecraft will experience when in deep space. The project’s telescope is also undergoing final testing at JPL. The instrument enclosure and telescope are both scheduled to be shipped to a mission contractor, Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), in Logan, Utah, in the spring of 2025 where the rest of NEO Surveyor’s subsystems will be integrated and tested.In addition, NASA awarded a contract worth about $100 million to SpaceX to provide launch and other mission-related services.
Globalstar, Inc. today announces that the Company has signed an agreement with SpaceX for a Falcon 9 launch for the next set of satellites, pursuant to the 2022 satellite procurement agreement with MDA. As previously disclosed, these satellites will provide continuous satellite services in combination with the existing second-generation satellites in operation today. Globalstar expects the launch will take place next year following the initial launch this year. These satellites have been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to operate under Globalstar’s HIBLEO-4 filing for a renewed 15-year term.Globalstar CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs stated “The launch services agreement with SpaceX represents another important milestone as we continue to execute on our construction and launch plan. These satellites, constructed by our partners at MDA and Rocket Lab, will enhance our ability to provide the highest quality satellite services to our customers over the long-term.”
That GEO rideshare service, which Impulse Space recently named Caravan, will involve an annual series of dedicated Falcon 9 launches of Helios, currently planned for the third quarter of each year. The first mission, Caravan 1, is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026 and is fully booked. Caravan 2 will follow in 2027 and Caravan 3 in 2028.The missions will use the Helios vehicle to rapidly transfer from an initial low Earth orbit to GEO. One burn shortly after payload deployment puts Helios into a geostationary transfer orbit, while a second about six hours later circularizes the orbit just above GEO. Payload deployment takes place eight hours after launch.The payloads will be dropped off about 500 kilometers above GEO, allowing payloads to drift at a rate of about five degrees per day to reach their desired orbital slot and then lower themselves into GEO. After deployment, Impulse will then move Helios into a higher graveyard orbit and passivate it.
Reditus Space Inc. (“Reditus”) has designed a mission to test its controlled re-entry process for its Enos MKI (“Enos”) re-entry capsule as a proof of concept for its burgeoning micro-gravity manufacturing services. Reditus seeks authority to conduct this mission, which is expected to last approximately eight weeks from commencement.[...]Enos is scheduled for launch aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle no earlier than April 24, 2026. Enos will be deployed into a quasi-Polar Orbit at approximately 500 km +/-15 km, with an approximate inclination of 88° +/ 2°. Upon deployment, the mission operations team will establish contact with Enos and transmit initial operational commands via Reditus’s ground station network, which is operated KSAT’S global ground network services. After initial contact, Reditus will initiate an extensive system evaluation, including performance checks of the sensor suite, primary thruster and control algorithms to ensure nominal functionality.For the duration of the mission, the mission operations team will refine the orbit determination solution of Enos using the precise GPS locations provided by the onboard GNSS receiver. Reditus will also register Enos with the U.S. Space Defense Squadron and will conduct all active maneuvers in a manner consistent with the Spaceflight Safety Handbook for Satellite Operators. After an approximately six-week period of payload operations, Reditus ground operators will transition to the Perigee Lowering phase of the mission. During this phase, ground operators will command maneuvers to lower Enos’s perigee to a final altitude of approximately 120 km altitude. The apoapsis of Enos’s orbit will remain at its nominal altitude of 500 km. As a result, Enos will transit through the International Space Station’s (“ISS”) operational altitude twice per orbit for this phase of the mission. All maneuvers will be coordinated with NASA, and Reditus will adhere to the conditions of that coordination to ensure safe passage through the ISS orbital corridor. Upon completion of the Perigee Lowering phases of the mission, Enos will prepare for the final maneuver of its reentry trajectory. Reditus will closely monitor Enos’s propellant supply using an on-board mass-flow sensor, and will purposefully conserve sufficient propellant, based on in-orbit thruster tests efficiency tests, to ensure a successful final burn. During the entirety of its orbital reentry, Enos will beacon health data via its Iridium antenna. However, Reditus expects to experience a radio blackout with Enos between an altitude of approximately 84 km and 40 km.During the blackout period, Enos will continue to attempt to beacon via its Iridium antenna, although no successful communications are expected. The entire de-orbit phase of the operation will take approximately 2 weeks.As demonstrated in its orbital debris mitigation showing, Enos will land safely in the Gulf of Mexico, ensuring that its reentry mission meets the Commission’s regulations regarding human casualty rate. Upon landing, Enos will continue beaconing via its Iridium antenna until either its battery is fully depleted or the Reditus recovery team recovers the spacecraft.
Returnable Payload Capacity: 40kgFlights per Vehicle: 20+
Reditus is preparing for its first full-scale re-entry mission, named ENOS, scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in a launch window opening in March 2026. This mission will host a pharmaceutical research and development payload, with plans to fully re-enter and recover the satellite. Dawn Aerospace will be providing its signature SatDrive systems, with 5 already in orbit across three customers. Dawn plans to work closely with Reditus to explore reusability of the SatDrive propulsion system.
(snip)QuoteReditus is preparing for its first full-scale re-entry mission, named ENOS, scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in a launch window opening in March 2026. This mission will host a pharmaceutical research and development payload, with plans to fully re-enter and recover the satellite. Dawn Aerospace will be providing its signature SatDrive systems, with 5 already in orbit across three customers. Dawn plans to work closely with Reditus to explore reusability of the SatDrive propulsion system.The 88° inclination and launch timing could indicate that its not a Transporter rideshare.
This was posted in the Transporter 17 thread and probably does belong there.Enos is pretty orbit agnostic, and doesn’t need a specific inclination, just zero G. The promo video shows it being released from a rideshare (after launching on that looks like a Shuttle with the long smoky trail.) The “88°” is probably a typo, another carelessness where it’s not important to what they are selling.Is there a thread to discuss Reditus, beyond its place in the Manifest? They are an interesting variation on Varda, with the water landing and much simpler expendable spacecraft but are several years behind Varda with no announced product details.
The overall goal of the LEOPARDSat-1 mission is to study the effectiveness of carbon-carbon composite materials in shielding against ionizing radiation by comparing the shielded dose to an unshielded dose. A total of sixteen sensors will be used to gather radiation data: 6 unprotected sensors and 10 sensors shielded with varying amounts of Carbon-Carbon High Density Polyethylene (CC-HDPE) composite samples. LEOPARDSat-1 will utilize a basic store-andforward technique to deliver data to the ground station as the satellite passes overhead.The satellite will be launched to the ISS aboard Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) Flight NG-24, from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA no earlier than April 1, 2026. From the ISS, it will be deployed into an orbit at 400 km apogee and 400 km perigee, on an inclination from the equator of 51.6 degrees. Transmission will begin 1-2 weeks after deployment, and cease when atmospheric friction will slow the satellite and reduce the altitude of the orbit. De-orbiting will occur approximately 2 years after launch. See the Orbital Debris Assessment Report for details.The spacecraft is a single unit with the dimensions of 1U stacked 10 cm X 10 cm X 11.35cm CubeSat modules (giving an overall dimension of 10 cm X 10 cm X 11.35 cm.). The total mass is about 0.960 kg.
Low Earth Orbit Platform for Aerospace Research and Development Satellite 1Launch Vehicle: TBA (Falcon 9/Dragon 2 or Antares/Cygnus)Launch Date: NET 2026Deployment Date: 1-2 months after launchOrbital Altitude: ~420 kmOrbital Inclination: 51.6°Mission Duration: 4 months (minimum)Decay Date: est. 2 years after deployment
Meanwhile, LEOPARDSat is undergoing ongoing validation testing, bringing us closer to launch readiness and handoff. These efforts are a testament to the incredible commitment of our student engineers and the value of iterative, hands-on aerospace learning.
Impulse Space and Infinite Orbits have reinforced their partnership by signing a multi-launch agreement. The agreement covers the delivery of multiple Infinite Orbits spacecraft to geostationary orbit (GEO), starting in 2027, via Impulse’s rideshare program Caravan.The first missions include the launch of several servicers developed by Infinite Orbits, allowing multiple life extension missions and the deployment of an inspection and surveillance micro-satellites fleet. With at least three spacecraft launched in 2027 and additional missions planned each year following, this agreement reinforces the partnership between the companies.Caravan rideshare missions offer small satellites rapid, reliable, and affordable access to GEO. After launching to low Earth orbit (LEO) on a Falcon 9 rocket, Caravan missions use the Impulse kick stage, Helios, to transport multiple small spacecraft to their target destinations in GEO in under 24 hours. Impulse’s first Caravan mission is fully manifested and scheduled to fly in 2026.
Space Norway has signed a contract with SpaceX for the launch of the new communications satellite, THOR 8, into geostationary orbit. The mission, which will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2027, will strengthen Space Norway’s communications capacity for both governmental and commercial clients.“The Falcon 9 launch service was selected after a competitive process. SpaceX has an impressive track record of launches, and we count on their reliable services for THOR 8, just as we did for last year’s successful launch of the two ASBM satellites”, says Peter Olsen, Head of Satcom Division at Space Norway.“We’re proud of the trust Space Norway has in SpaceX and Falcon 9 to safely launch their THOR 8 spacecraft to orbit,” said SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales, Stephanie Bednarek. “We look forward to this exciting mission.”SpaceX was the first company to commercialize the reuse of its rockets, and to date, they have completed more than 500 successful launches and recoveries of Falcon first stage boosters.Expanding CapabilitiesTHOR 8 is a major undertaking for Space Norway. The satellite will both replace older satellites being phased out in the coming years and provide increased capacity and service offerings for our customers. THOR 8 is part of Space Norway’s multi-orbit strategy, with satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary orbit (GEO), and highly elliptical orbit (HEO). This portfolio allows us to serve a broad spectrum of customers with widely varying needs.Operated from OsloTHOR 8 will be operated by Space Norway from Oslo, and the company is well underway in the preparations needed to incorporate the new satellite into the overall service offering, both at the satellite operations facility and at the teleport where service platforms will be located. The French company Thales Alenia Space has started building the satellite, and Space Norway is establishing a local presence at the satellite manufacturing facilities to closely monitor the construction process.CapacityTHOR 8 is a multi-purpose satellite that offers capacity for both data services and broadcasting. Intelsat has already secured lifetime usage—at least 15 years—for its broadcasting customers. Read more.THOR 8 carries two dedicated payloads for broadcasting in Europe and the Nordics, as well as payloads for data services to commercial and governmental customers.
From its orbital slot at 1° west, the THOR 8 communications satellite will meet the growing demand for connectivity and ensure continuity of Space Norway’s broadcasting service over a geographic coverage area from the Nordics to Central and Eastern Europe. THOR 8 will provide top-tier satellite connectivity for broadcasters and high-speed internet access for fixed and mobile infrastructure (maritime, terrestrial and aeronautical services) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With a launch mass of 4 metric tons, the satellite will be built on Thales Alenia Space’s Spacebus 4000B2 platform and will operate in the Ka and Ku frequency bands.As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for the design, manufacture, testing and delivery of the satellite. THOR 8 will be launched in 2027 and will have an in-orbit service life of over 15 years.
Astranis is partnering with Impulse Space for our 2027 launch: SpaceX Falcon 9 to LEO, Impulse Helios direct-inject to GEO.This is our third dedicated launch, and with 6 satellites onboard, we will lead the GEO industry by number of satellites launched this decade.This partnership will cut our orbit raise from months to hours, a capability highly demanded by both commercial and government customers.[...]
Space Force taps SpaceX, ULA for first set of critical launches beyond FY27October 03, 2025SpaceX was assigned seven NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches under a contract worth $714 million; ULA two launches worth $428 million.The Space Force announced today that it has assigned the first seven future launches under its National Security Space Launch Program (NSSL) program for critical missions: five to SpaceX and two to United Launch Alliance (ULA).[...]SpaceX’s missions include: USSF-206/WGS-12, USSF-155, NROL-86, USSF-149, and USSF-63.USSF-206 will carry the twelfth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) encrypted military communication satellite, according to the press release. Space Systems Command did not specify the satellites being carried by USSF-155, -149 and -63, indicating that the payloads are classified.[...]Both the of the NROL missions will carry classified payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office and will be launched in partnership with the spy-sat agency, according to the press release.As the Space Force contracts for launches two years in advance, the assigned Phase 3 Lane 2 launches will loft at the earliest in fiscal 2027.
QuoteSpace Force taps SpaceX, ULA for first set of critical launches beyond FY27October 03, 2025
Space Force taps SpaceX, ULA for first set of critical launches beyond FY27October 03, 2025
Following the announcement on Friday, Lt. Col. Kristina Stewart, SSC materiel leader for NSSL Integration Division, said that the majority of SpaceX’s missions will use a Falcon Heavy rocket.“All assigned SpaceX missions in OY2 require a Falcon Heavy, except for USSF-149, which requires a Falcon 9,” Stewart said in a statement.
