Satellite News

Rocket: Atlas V/Centaur; Payload: NROL-34; Date: 15 April 2011, 0424 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The classified payload was launched for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

The launch of an Ariane 5 with Yahsat Y1A and Intelsat New Dawn on board was aborted shortly before lift-off 0n 30 March because of a problem with the main engine’s nozzle, Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said.

After more than 17 years of service, Meteosat-6 – the longest operating Meteosat First Generation satellite – was moved to a graveyard orbit on 15 April 2011.

The Space Data Association (SDA), established by commercial satellite operators to improve the safety and efficiency of space operations, announced that its Space Data Center has completed its Full Operational Capability (FOC) readiness review.

In its continuing effort to improve NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion engine, the agency recently completed a series of tests that mimic the requirements of a wide range of ambitious missions.

Officials for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that ASCR Aerospace Corp. has been awarded a contract to operate and maintain the agency’s Fairbanks Satellite Operations Facility (FSOF) located in Fairbanks, Alaska.