SpaceNews This Week | Richard Branson noncommittal about SpaceShipTwo flight schedule

April 28, 2017 View this email in your browser Branson noncommittal about SpaceShipTwo flight schedule Jeff Foust — Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said April 28 he remained optimistic that the company's SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle will carry him and other customers into space, but declined to give a specific schedule about when those flights might begin. OmniEarth acquired by EagleView Jeff Foust — OmniEarth, a company that once planned to launch a constellation of Earth imaging satellites and later shifted into analysis of satellite imagery, has been acquired by another data analytics company, EagleView. The Washington Space Business Roundtable's May luncheon features a panel of experts, including: Chirag Parikh (NGA) John Hill (OSD) Lindsay Millard (DARPA) Col. Sidney S. Conner (USAF) Todd Harrison (CSIS) Intelsat mum on debt exchange, says Epic business affirmed by mobility customers Caleb Henry — Global satellite fleet operator Intelsat says mobility customers have become the "power users" of its first high-throughput satellites, providing reliable demand while other sectors warm to the new systems at a slower rate.  Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler declined to comment in an April 27 call with investors on Intelsat's decision to extend its debt exchange deadline from April 20 to May 10 in order to move ahead on its OneWeb merger announced in February. NASA plans to delay first SLS/Orion mission to 2019 Jeff Foust — NASA now expects the first launch of the Space Launch System to slip to 2019, regardless of any decision to put a crew on that mission, given ongoing issues with development of the launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft. Arianespace sets launch dates for delayed Ariane 5 and Soyuz missions Caleb Henry — European launch provider Arianespace has established new dates in May and June for a Soyuz and an Ariane 5 launch that were delayed by four weeks of civil unrest in French Guiana. The Evry, France-based company said April 26 that the Soyuz launch of SES-15, previously planned for the first week of April, will commence on May 18. The Ariane 5 dual launch of ViaSat's next broadband satellite ViaSat-2 and Eutelsat's next Asia-Pacific telecom satellite Eutelsat-172b, once planned for April 25, is now slated for June 1. SpaceX prepares for its first big NRO launch Phillip Swarts — Preparations are underway for SpaceX's first big launch for the National Reconnaissance Office, a classified mission slated to lift off early Sunday from Florida. The  SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will carry the hush-hush payload dubbed NROL-76 completed a static-fire test Tuesday, setting the stage for a morning liftoff from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. The planned two-hour launch window is set to open at 7 am, but NRO has not announced what the exact planned liftoff time will be. SN FIRST UP Satcom is our new, weekly rundown of what's happening in the satellite telecommunications industry. Every Wednesday, you will receive a handpicked selection of news and info that matters to satellite professionals.  Sign up now. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2017 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314