Monday, January 13, 2014

SpaceX Gets Japanese Satellite Launch Contract

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said late last week that it has been awarded a contract from Japanese satellite operator SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. According to SpaceX, it will launch SKY's JCSAT-14 communications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit on its Falcon 9, in the second half of 2015. SpaceX did not say how much the contract is worth. SpaceX recently completed the first two GTO missions with its Falcon 9, a move which opens up a significant amount of satellite launch business to the company. GTO missions are used to place geostationary satellites into place fored final geostationary orbit procedures, and are apparently very challenging to undertake.