Satellite News

The Indian government has approved design and development of GSAT-10 spacecraft at a cost of INR7.35 billion (EUR108 million, US$155 million) and with a foreign exchange component of about 8.6 percent.

A deployable satellite reflector and boom assembly from Northrop Grumman Corporation will help NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) map soil moisture and the freezing and thawing cycles globally with unprecedented accuracy, resolution and coverage, the company said.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) will be the first to systematically measure the polarisation of cosmic X-ray sources.

China’s first Mars probe has been transported to Russia for a launch later this year, state media reported.

The DirecTV Group, Inc. reported second quarter 2009 financial results.