Satellite News

A Soyuz-FG carrying the first new-series manned transportation spacecraft, Soyuz MS, was rolled out of the processing facility and erected on the launch pad of Area 1 of the Baikonur cosmodrome.

Based upon the 2016 Planetary Mission Senior Review Panel report, NASA this week directed nine extended missions to plan for continued operations through fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Final decisions on mission extensions are contingent on the outcome of the annual budget process.

SES S.A. announced that, having received all of the necessary regulatory approvals, the company exercised its call option and offered to acquire the remaining shares and warrants of O3b Networks.

Intelsat S.A. announced that it has partnered with AfricaOnline, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gondwana International Networks, a provider of communications solutions across Africa, to provide a managed broadband Internet service for sub-Saharan Africa.