Satellite News

Swedish Space Corporation’s subsidiary NanoSpace has been contracted by ESA to develop a propellant gauging system for satellites. The contract is worth EUR500,000 (US$739,000).

China’s first lunar probing satellite, Chang’e-1, adjusted its operating orbit to avoid a power shortage during an upcoming moon eclipse.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. announced that its Montreal operation has been awarded an advanced technology multi-million dollar contract by Thales Alenia Space.

Australian telecommunications provider Optus said its Optus D2 satellite, which was launched on 5 October last year, has been made operational after completing a series of in-orbit tests.

SES Sirius announced that the Sirius 4 communications satellite is now in operation and has taken over all transmissions from Sirius 2 and Sirius 3. Since it was launched on 18 November 2007, all operations have been carried out according to plan.

The launch of Ekspress-AM44 and Ekspress-MD1 may be delayed again according to a source close to the development.

Boeing has delivered DirecTV 11, the second of three new Boeing-built satellites for DirecTV, Inc., to the Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, California/USA.