Satellite News

Rocket: Minotaur IV; Payload: SBSS (Space Based Space Surveillance) Block 10; Date: 26 September 2010, 0141 UTC; Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The rocket flew an orbital trajectory downrange over the Pacific Ocean and delivered the SBSS satellite to the desired separation conditions.

Expedition 24 Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko landed their Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft in Kazakhstan on 25 September, wrapping up a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has controlled the orbit of the First Quasi-Zenith Satellite “Michibiki” to insert it into the quasi-zenith orbit from the drift orbit starting on 21 September (Japan Standard Time, JST), and the final orbit control operation was performed for about 50 seconds on 27 September.

NASA has announced the award of the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployers, or P-POD, service contract to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California.

Cryocoolers built by Northrop Grumman Corporation for satellite applications have recently accumulated over 100 years of flawless on-orbit performance.