Satellite News

Now that additional checks on the Ariane 5 ECA launcher have been completed, Arianespace and ESA have set the launch date of Herschel and Planck for Thursday, 14 May.

A United Launch Alliance Delta II is to launch the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (ATRR) mission for the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The launch will be conducted on behalf of NASA’s Launch Services Program.

NASA is preparing to fly a small satellite about the size of a loaf of bread that could help scientists better understand how effectively drugs work in space. The nanosatellite, known as PharmaSat, is a secondary payload aboard a U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur 1 rocket planned for launch on 6 May (UTC).

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest from PlanetSpace Inc., which was challenging the award of two commercial contracts awarded by NASA to support the International Space Station (ISS).

Orbital Sciences Corporation reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2009.

The GIOVE-B navigation satellite has successfully completed its first year in orbit. The 500 kg satellite, which was built by an industrial team led by Astrium under contract to the European Space Agency, is the second of two in-orbit demonstration missions for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system.

COM DEV International Ltd. announced that its first experimental satellite, NTS, has successfully completed one year in orbit, validating COM DEV’s high-performance detection capability for its advanced space-based AIS (Automatic Identification System) technology.