Telecom – Spaceflight Now

Smallsat launch providers readying for first missions of 2021

January 10, 2021

Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab teams are gearing up for their first missions of the year in the coming days, with Virgin’s air-launched rocket set for its second demonstration flight and Rocket Lab’s Electron booster poised to launch a small German-owned communications satellite.

SpaceX delivers for Turkey in first launch of 2021

January 8, 2021

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into space from Cape Canaveral and deployed a Turkish communications satellite Thursday night, the first of more than 40 Falcon rocket missions scheduled this year from launch pads in Florida and California.

Photos: Falcon 9 poised for first launch of 2021

January 7, 2021

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is standing more than 20 stories tall on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ready for blastoff with the Turksat 5A communications satellite.

Falcon 9 launch timeline with Turksat 5A

January 7, 2021

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Turkish Turksat 5A communications satellite into orbit around 33 minutes later.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches first mission of 2021

January 7, 2021

For its first mission of the year, SpaceX launched the Airbus-built Turksat 5A communications satellite to cover Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa with data relay and television broadcast services. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m. EST Thursday (0215 GMT Friday).

Turksat telecom satellite set to launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

January 6, 2021

A Turkish-owned communications satellite is set to rocket into orbit Thursday night from Cape Canaveral to open SpaceX’s 2021 launch schedule.

OneWeb resumes deployment of 650-satellite broadband network

December 18, 2020

The next 36 satellites for OneWeb’s broadband internet network fired into orbit from Russia’s Far East Friday on a Soyuz rocket, giving OneWeb 110 of a planned fleet of 650 spacecraft after the company emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.

PSLV delivers Indian communications satellite into orbit

December 17, 2020

A government communications satellite to link Indian citizens with telemedicine, education, and other services rocketed into orbit Thursday on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Live coverage: PSLV successfully launches from India

December 17, 2020

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carried a new communications satellite into orbit Thursday, replacing a satellite launched in 2011 providing telemedicine, remote education, and other telecom services across the Indian subcontinent. Liftoff occurred at 5:11 a.m. EST (1011 GMT).

OneWeb satellites awaiting launch on Soyuz rocket Friday

December 17, 2020

After a nine-month hiatus caused by bankruptcy, the deployment of OneWeb’s broadband network will resume Friday with the launch of the company’s next 36 satellites on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.