Satellite News

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2C; Payload: three Yaogan-30 satellites, NanoSat 1A satellite; Date: 25 January 2018, 0539 UTC. The satellites have successfully entered their preset orbit.

The team of Glavkosmos and Lavochkin Association has completed assembling of the Soyuz-2.1a Space Head Module (SHM) in Vostochny Assembly & Test Building (ATB).

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and Viasat have marked the start of operations of the new Viasat antenna system installed at SSTL’s Guildford headquarters with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Rocket Lab said it has successfully tested a previously unannounced kick stage on the Still Testing Electron launch vehicle, using it to circularise the orbits of the two Spire Lemur-2 CubeSats on board. Plus, there was a previously unannounced fourth satellite on board.

The Vulcain 2.1 engine, developed by ArianeGroup to power the main stage of the Ariane 6 launcher, for which the maiden flight is scheduled for 2020, has just been successfully tested by the DLR (German Aerospace Center) on the P5 test facility at its site in Lampoldshausen, Germany on behalf of ArianeGroup.

The first Arianespace mission in 2018 has been given the “green light” for its 25 January lift-off following a successful launch readiness review, which was conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that the fifth Iridium NEXT launch has been targeted by SpaceX for 18 March 2018 at 1519 UTC from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced that it has assumed responsibility for the marketing and sales of Atlas V from Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services.