Telecom
Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches satellites for Saudi Arabia and India
An Ariane 5 rocket launched Tuesday at 2101 GMT (4:01 p.m. EST) from French Guiana with a communications satellite to provide broadband and television services for the government of Saudi Arabia and commercial clients across Europe and the Middle East, and an Indian payload to help bridge the digital divide in South Asia.
Telesat taps Blue Origin to launch broadband satellite fleet
Telesat has selected Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket to “play a key role” in delivering potentially hundreds of broadband communications satellites into low Earth orbit under a multi-launch agreement announced last week, as Telesat officials prepare to select between two industrial teams to begin building spacecraft for the Internet network later this year.
Live coverage: SpaceX launches first Falcon 9 mission of the year
SpaceX kicked off its 2019 launch campaign with a mission Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying 10 more upgraded communications satellites into orbit to complete a refresh of Iridium’s voice and data relay network. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket occurred at 7:31 a.m. PST (10:31 a.m. EST; 1531 GMT).