Satellite News

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is undergoing final preparations in Florida for its launch on 16 April.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope currently is undergoing final integration and test phases that will require more time to ensure a successful mission. After an independent assessment of remaining tasks for the highly complex space observatory, Webb’s previously revised 2019 launch window now is targeted for approximately May 2020.

The 12th flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), GSLV-F08 with GSAT-6A as its payload is scheduled for launch on 29 March at 1126 UTC.

ESA’s Light satellite Launch opportunities initiative is investigating possible low-cost launch services based on Ariane 6, Vega and Vega-C efficiently combining payloads in the same mission and offering a standardised service to customers.

Rocket: Soyuz-FG; Payload: Soyuz MS-08 [Soyuz 54S]; Date: 21 March 2018, 1844 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The crewed vessel was launched on a two-day flight to the International Space Station.

The Airbus-operated SpaceDataHighway has begun regularly relaying data from the Sentinel-2A satellite, after the successful end of the commissioning period. This marks the start of the SpaceDataHighway service using all four Copernicus Sentinel satellites and the beginning of a new era for space-based imagery users.

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey mission, was selected by ESA as part of its Cosmic Vision plan. The mission addresses one of the key themes of Cosmic Vision: What are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life?

Raytheon Company’s GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System, known as GPS OCX, is in its final software development phase. This phase focuses on increasing automation and building controls for both L1C, a civilian GPS signal aimed at increasing international access, and M-code, a military GPS signal with better anti-jam capability.