
Boeing



Two launches on tap from Florida’s Space Coast this week
SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral on Saturday evening, clearing the way for a delayed liftoff with the Israeli-owned Amos 17 commercial communications satellite as soon as Tuesday, assuming SpaceX can work its way into a busy schedule before a previously-planned Atlas 5 launch this week on the U.S. Air Force’s Eastern Range.


Investigators conclude external forces killed an Intelsat satellite in April
Investigators probing the sudden failure of the Boeing-built Intelsat 29e geostationary relay station in April have concluded an electrostatic discharge, aggravated by a harness flaw on the spacecraft, or a micrometeoroid strike prematurely ended the satellite’s mission, resulting in a $382 million hit to Intelsat’s quarterly financial report.



NASA opts to go ahead with full-duration SLS core stage test-firing
After considering canceling a planned full-duration test-firing of the Space Launch System’s core stage in Mississippi ahead of the heavy-lift rocket’s first flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced this week that the agency will press ahead with the test next year, citing safety and reliability benefits for future astronauts riding on the launcher on missions to the moon.

