Satellite News

Astrium has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to pursue development of the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution (A5 ME) launcher. The final decision on the development of Ariane 5 ME will be taken by the ESA member states at a Ministerial Council meeting slated for November 2012.

An agreement was signed by ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for co-operation on Astro-H, an important mission that will provide a unique opportunity for probing extreme phenomena in the Universe.

ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems has delivered GeoEye’s next-generation commercial imaging system for the GeoEye-2 satellite to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale, California. When operational in 2013, GeoEye-2 will deliver the highest resolution and most accurate colour imagery to GeoEye’s commercial, government and international customers.

Afghanistan will select a bidder for the country’s first-ever communications satellite within six months.

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) announced that it is teaming with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to host a laser communications relay demonstration (LCRD) on a commercial satellite to be launched in 2016. NASA’s Space Technology Program selected Goddard’s mission proposal to use the SS/L satellite platform to help enable the next era of space communications.