Satellite News

Five Russian rocket and space companies will later this year merge into a holding with the Khrunichev space centre at its core, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) said.

The U.S. Air Force said its Materiel Command’s Space Vehicles Directorate and Composite Technology Development have developed a technology that could protect spacecraft components such as solar arrays and antennas when deployed.

SpaceDev said that its subsidiary, Starsys Inc., has successfully tested the low disturbance actuation system for the ground link antenna pointing gimbal for the GeoEye-1 satellite, currently being built by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.

COROT, the satellite to probe into the interiors of stars and to look for extra-solar planets, has completed its in-orbit verification and started science observations on 3 February.

The second demonstration flight of the SpaceX Falcon 1 was pushed back to 9 March because of range constraints.