Satellite Industry Intelligence Since 1983
It may be tiny but that doesn't stop the Isle of Man, which has had a busy week in space. August 15 saw the AMC-21 satellite, procured by SES’ leasing company, SES Satellite Leasing Limited in the Isle of Man, successfully roar into space onboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle from the French Guiana Spaceport in Kourou.
Read MoreCelebrations are underway after hard work and cooperation between international companies has paid off in a big way. The Proton Breeze M launch vehicle lifted the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite into orbit from Pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan marking the third mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). After a 9-hour-3-minute mission, the launcher successfully released the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Read MoreWe reported yesterday about the delay in launching the MEASAT 3a satellite, but at that time didn't have all of the details. Since then we've learned that Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB] is supporting its customer, MEASAT Satellite Systems [MSE: MEASAT] in replanning the MEASAT 3a satellite mission following an accident that occurred over the weekend resulting in a damaged spacecraft.
Read MoreIn a news conference yesterday, NASA managers discussed how the agency will be adjusting the budget, schedule, and technical performance milestones for its Constellation Program to ensure the first crewed flight of the Ares I rocket and Orion crew capsule in March 2015. The Constellation Program is developing the spacecraft and systems, including the Ares I and Ares V rockets, the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and the Altair lunar lander, that will take astronauts to the International Space Station after the retirement of the space shuttle, and eventually return humans to the moon.
Read MoreThe BADR-6 satellite, built by EADS Astrium, has been handed over to ARABSAT as part of the in-orbit delivery contract. The satellite has now entered commercial service. BADR-6 is the third spacecraft built by Astrium for ARABSAT, the communications satellite operator based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Read MoreTHEOS, the THailand Earth Observation Satellite developed by Astrium for the Thai Space Agency GISTDA (Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency) is expected to be launched on August 6th aboard a Dnepr rocket from the Yasny launch site in Russia. THEOS will observe the Earth from the same orbit as the French Spot-5 satellite at 820 km altitude.
Read MoreNASA is planning to fly two nanosatellites as secondary payloads aboard the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket in either August or September of this year. Spaceflight engineers and project managers at NASA's Ames Research Center, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, teamed together to arrange a fast-paced, low-cost mission.
Read MoreGOCE has now been fully reconfigured for launch in September and is currently being prepared for shipment on July 29th from the European Space Agency's (ESA) test facilities in the Netherlands to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
Read MoreNASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, designed to image global interactions at the outer reaches of the solar system, has started its move to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.
Read MoreNASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-128. The flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station.
Read More
Satnews is a leading provider of satellite news, events, publications, research and other satellite industry information in both commercial and military enterprises worldwide.