Satellite News

NASA has selected two finalist concepts for a robotic mission planned to launch in the mid-2020s: a comet sample return mission and a drone-like rotorcraft that would explore potential landing sites on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

After four months at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) test facilities in Daejeon, South Korea, during which intensive testing was performed by a joint team of KARI and Airbus Defence and Space, the GOCI-II ocean colour imaging instrument has been delivered to the customer.

Boeing has been awarded a contract modification for services required to ensure continued Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite operations and logistics sustainment support.

Arianespace has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch CHEOPS (the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite), which is its upcoming exoplanet mission as part of ESA’s science programme.

Orbital ATK announced that its “S. S. Gene Cernan” Cygnus spacecraft successfully completed its eighth cargo supply mission to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract.

NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission has begun integration and testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission will demonstrate how a transition from radio to laser communications will exponentially improve the way we connect with astronauts and spacecraft.

On 16 December 2017, assembly teams of RSC Energia, S.A.Lavochkin NPO and branch TsENKI of Space Center “Yuzhny” completed assembly of the ascent unit for launch of the integrated launch vehicle (ILV) consisting of the Zenit-2SB launch vehicle, Fregat-SB upper stage and Angosat telecommunication spacecraft (SC) in the integration and test facility of Site 31 of the Baikonur Launch Site.

With the successful conclusion of Maturity Gate 6.2, ArianeGroup and its industrial partners are moving into an important new phase in the development of Ariane 6, a flagship European Space Agency (ESA) programme. This review confirmed that the industrial process of Ariane 6 is mature enough to start construction of the first launcher, in line with the programme’s objectives.