Satellite News

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has begun environmental testing in a thermal vacuum.

Aerojet, a GenCorp company, announced that it has been selected by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) to provide propulsion systems for NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission.

Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a contract by the United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to provide technical support for the operational Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft, primary infrared sensor and mission analysis.

Commercial imaging satellite operator RapidEye has published a first demonstration image.

Northrop Grumman Corporation reported financial results for the third quarter 2008.

Rocket: PSLV; Payload: Chandrayaan-1; Date: 22 October, 0052 UTC; Site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C11, successfully launched the 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1 moon probe into a 255 km x 22,860 km x 17.9 degrees transfer orbit.

Arianespace and Thales Alenia Space announced the signature of a launch contract for the pan-African communications satellite, Rascom-QAF 1R. In addition, tentative dates have been set for the next two Ariane 5 flights.

During last weekend ESA lost contact with its XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. However, a feeble radio signal has been heard, and ground-based observations confirm that the spacecraft is intact. XMM-Newton has operated faultlessly in orbit for almost nine years, close to its design life-time.