Satellite News

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Ekspress-AM44, Ekspress-MD1; Date: 11 February 2009, 0003 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellites were successfully delivered into geosynchronous drift orbit.

Two physically intact satellites have collided in low-Earth orbit in an unprecedented incident, creating a cloud of orbital debris the size of which is yet unknown. The spacecraft involved are Kosmos 2251, a defunct Russian military satellite, and Iridium 33, an operational spacecraft in the Iridium phone satellite constellation.

SES S.A.has signed a contract with Space Systems/Loral for the procurement of QuetzSat-1, a high-power communications satellite with coverage of Mexico, North America and Central America.

Harris Corporation said it recently delivered its proposal for a total, end-to-end solution for the ground segment of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) programme.