Blue Origin Enterprises,L.P.,commonly referred to as Blue Origin is an American aerospace manufacturer,government contractor,launch service provider,and space technologies company headquartered in Kent,Washington,United States. The company makes rocket engines for United Launch Alliance (ULA)'s Vulcan rocket and manufactures their own rockets,spacecraft,satellites,and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The company is the second provider of lunar lander services for NASA's Artemis program and was awarded a $3.4 billion contract. The four rocket engines the company has in production are the BE-3U,BE-3PM,BE-4 and the BE-7.
A small satellite,miniaturized satellite,or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size,usually under 1,200 kg (2,600 lb). While all such satellites can be referred to as "small",different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction. Miniature satellites,especially in large numbers,may be more useful than fewer,larger ones for some purposes –for example,gathering of scientific data and radio relay. Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system.
This is a timeline of first orbital launches by country. While a number of countries,incl. Canada,Australia,Germany,Brazil,Algeria,Kazakhstan,Turkey,Argentina,Italy,Malaysia,Poland,South Africa,the Philippines,Egypt,Spain,Mexico,Thailand and Chile,have built or launched satellites,as of 2022,eleven countries,incl. the United States,Japan,China,India,Iran,Israel,France,the United Kingdom and South Korea,have had the capability to send objects into orbit with their own launch vehicles. Russia and Ukraine inherited the capability of the space launchers and satellites from the Soviet Union,following its dissolution in 1991. Russia launches its rockets from its own and foreign (Kazakh) spaceports.
The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth,secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens."
Rocket Lab USA,Inc. is a publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider that operates and launches lightweight Electron orbital rockets used to provide dedicated launch services for small satellites as well as a suborbital variant of Electron called HASTE. The company plans to build a larger Neutron rocket as early as 2025. Electron rockets have launched to orbit 49 times from either Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand or at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island,Virginia,United States. Rocket Lab has launched one sub-orbital HASTE rocket to date from Wallops Island,Virginia. In addition to the Electron,Neutron,and HASTE launch vehicles,Rocket Lab manufactures and operates spacecraft and is a supplier of satellite components including star trackers,reaction wheels,solar cells and arrays,satellite radios,separation systems,as well as flight and ground software.
A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However,it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space,such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit,a lunar transfer,or an escape trajectory.
Spaceflight Industries,Inc. is an American private aerospace company based out of Herndon,Virginia,that specializes in geospatial intelligence services. It sold its satellite rideshare business,Spaceflight,Inc.,in June 2020.
Electron is a two-stage,partially reusable orbital launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab,an American aerospace company with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. Electron services the commercial small satellite launch market. It's the third most launched small-lift launch vehicle in history. Its Rutherford engines are the first electric-pump-fed engine to power an orbital-class rocket. Electron is often flown with a kickstage or Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable,Rocket Lab has recovered the first stage twice and is working towards the capability of reusing the booster. The Flight 26 (F26) booster has featured the first helicopter catch recovery attempt. Rocket Lab has,however,abandoned the idea of catching Electron.
Exos Aerospace Systems &Technologies is an aerospace manufacturer and developer of reusable launch systems intended to support uncrewed orbital spaceflight launches,and is based in Caddo Mills,Texas.
Vector Launch,Inc. is an American space technology company which aims to launch suborbital and orbital payloads. Vector Launch declared bankruptcy in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020.
Relativity Space Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Long Beach,California. Relativity Space is developing manufacturing technologies,launch vehicles,and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services. The company is notable for manufacturing most of their Terran 1 and Terran R rocket parts using 3D printing. As of April 2024,Terran R is on track for initial launch in 2026.
The Sutherland spaceport,also known as Space Hub Sutherland or UK Vertical Launch (UKVL) Sutherland,is a planned spaceport to be located in Sutherland in Scotland. It would be the first vertical launch capable spaceport in the United Kingdom,and operated by a commercial entity. The spaceport is intended to support the Orbex Prime launch vehicle. The spaceport will be located on the A' Mhòine peninsula northwest of Tongue village,Sutherland,Scotland. Groundbreaking occurred on 5 May 2023.
Miura 5 is a two-stage European orbital recoverable launch vehicle currently under development by the Spanish company PLD Space. In a standard two-stage configuration,it will have a length of 34 m,be capable of inserting 1000 kg of payload into a low Earth orbit (LEO),featuring an optional kick stage that can circularize the orbits of satellites.
Skyrora Ltd is a British private space company based in Edinburgh,Scotland,since 2017.
Spaceflight in 2025 promises to follow the 2020s trend of record breaking orbital launches and increased developments in lunar,Mars and low-earth orbit exploration.
SaxaVord Spaceport,previously known as Shetland Space Centre,is a UK spaceport located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst,the most northerly of the inhabited Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. The site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw,adjacent to the Saxa Vord distillery.
A floating launch vehicle operations platform is a marine vessel used for launch or landing operations of an orbital launch vehicle by a launch service provider:putting satellites into orbit around Earth or another celestial body,or recovering first-stage boosters from orbital-class flights by making a propulsive landing on the platform.
ABL Space Systems is an American aerospace and launch service provider,based in El Segundo,California,that manufactures deployable launch vehicles and infrastructure for sending commercial small satellites into orbit. The company manufactures its components in the United States.
In May 2021,the Space industry of Scotland consisted of 173 space companies operating across Scotland. These include spacecraft manufacturers,launch providers,downstream data analyzers,and research organisations. Space Scotland,the country's space agency,said that the space industry in Scotland contributes in excess of £4 billion to the Scottish economy.
