Satellite News

NASA’s nanosatellite NanoSail-D is slowly descending after successfully orbiting Earth for 95 days since deploying its 9.3-square-metre sail on 20 January. The small satellite demonstration experiment continues its descent towards Earth, lending key sail data to the design of de-orbit mechanisms for future satellites.

The Boeing Company reported results for the first-quarter 2011.

Northrop Grumman Corporation reported financial results for the first quarter 2011.

ATK was awarded a US$57 million contract to provide the Castor 30XL, an upgraded second stage motor for Orbital Science Corporation’s Taurus II commercial launch vehicle, which will supply cargo for NASA to the International Space Station.

In its 17th consecutive successful flight, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) injected three Satellites – Resourcesat-2, Youthsat and X-SAT (of Nanyang Technical University, Singapore) – into their intended Polar Sun-synchronous orbits on 20 April 2011 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. All the three satellites were placed in the targeted orbits with high precision.

The first Lockheed Martin-built Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous (GEO-1) spacecraft was encapsulated into its payload fairing on 20 April in preparation for an early May lift-off aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Integral Systems, Inc., announced that it has received an Authorisation to Proceed from Orbital Sciences Corporation to provide the major ground segment elements for the MEXSAT-3 satellite programme.

Boeing said that its GPS Operational Control Segment (OCS) has gained full operational status with the U.S. Air Force 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.