Bloomberg
• Emily Graffeo
United Launch Alliance, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin rocket joint venture, is wrapping up a $1.5 billion private-bond transaction—three times the deal’s original size. The financing gives the venture a significantly larger capital-markets transaction as it advances its rocket business.
Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation
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United Launch Alliance, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin rocket joint venture, is wrapping up a $1.5 billion private-bond transaction—three times the deal’s original size. The financing gives the venture a significantly larger capital-markets transaction as it advances its rocket business.
SpaceX recovery teams have brought Starship through a turbulent 24-day tow across the Indian Ocean to calmer waters off Christmas Island, following last month’s test launch and splashdown. The recovery marks the vehicle’s movement from open-ocean operations toward a more controlled inspection phase.
SpaceX plans to conduct its 100th mission of the year on Aug. 18, marking a significant annual launch milestone. The event will be livestreamed, giving industry observers a real-time view of the company’s continuing launch cadence.
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Globalstar deployed eight replacement satellites for its direct-to-device constellation, while Eutelsat advanced Europe’s sovereign IRIS² connectivity program. Separately, Viasat selected Rocket Lab to build a Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global satellite, and Finnish startup ReOrbit launched a €4.6 million connectivity research program.
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The week of Aug. 17-23 will feature three SpaceX Starlink launches alongside China’s second test flight of the partially reusable ZhuQue-3 launcher and the robotic Chang’e 7 lunar mission. The schedule marks China’s return to launch activity after the previous week’s Chang Zheng 7A failure.
China’s space program returned to flight on Aug. 16 with back-to-back launches of Long March 12 and Long March 2C rockets, less than a week after a Long March 7A exploded. The missions marked an immediate restart of launch activity following the failure.
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United Launch Alliance has appointed longtime company executive Mark Peller as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Peller succeeds the company’s previous leader as the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture navigates challenges surrounding its Vulcan rocket program.
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The articles combine two separate U.S.-led initiatives: a Space Force space-domain-awareness payload launched aboard Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7, and the FAA’s $74.3 million initial task order to AT&T under its multibillion-dollar Enterprise Network Services modernization program.
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