Satellite News

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Dragon; Date: 21 September 2014, 0552 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. After a successful launch, about 2,250 kg of NASA science investigations and cargo are on their way to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Another lightweight Vega launcher has begun its build-up at the Spaceport, initiating preparations for Arianespace’s mid-November lift-off from French Guiana with the European Space Agency’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV).

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft successfully entered Mars’ orbit at 1524 UTC on 21 September 2014. MAVEN is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars.

The 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, last fired on 1 December 2013, was successfully fired for a duration of 3.968 seconds at 0900 UTC on 22 September 2014.

In-flight network switching between commercial Ku- and Ka-band satellites has been successfully demonstrated by ViaSat Inc., using a dual-band terminal and a new radome. The test flights, conducted in July and August on a commercial 757-200 aircraft, demonstrated broadband enroute communications with the aircraft transitioning among multiple satellite beams from six satellites and three Ku- and Ka-band networks.