Satellite News

The 48-hour countdown for the launch of India’s Cartosat-2C and 19 other satellites, slated for 22 June UTC, has begun, the Indian space agency said.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) announced that the satellites launched on 18 June aboard an Ariane 5 ECA were both successfully performing post-launch manoeuvres according to plan.

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo-Finmeccanica (33%), announced that it has signed a contract with RSCC (Russian Satellite Communication Company) to supply payloads for the Ekspress-80 and Ekspress-103 communications satellites.

RSC Energia specialists have successfully completed the manufacturing and developmental testing of the additional equipment to be installed in the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) Nauka for the International Space Station (ISS). The module’s launch, however, has slipped another six months.

Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia successfully conducted the first remote Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or Saffire I, carried inside an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vehicle that departed the International Space Station on 14 June.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. has signed a C$48.5 million (including taxes) contract with the Government of Canada to deliver an advanced broad-area global maritime and Arctic surveillance solution, called Polar Epsilon 2 (PE2), to the Department of National Defence (DND).