Satellite News

Aerojet announced that its AJ26 engine successfully completed a hot fire test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Orbital Sciences Corporation (ORB), Aerojet and NASA monitored the full-duration test in support of the Antares rocket programme. This is the eleventh AJ26 engine to be tested at Stennis.

Arabsat has finalised the mission definition for Badr-7 (a.k.a. Arabsat-6B) and confirmed the in-orbit delivery contract to the consortium of Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, which has already started building the new satellite.

Meteosat-10 (formerly MSG-3) has replaced Meteosat-9 as EUMETSAT’s prime operational geostationary weather satellite after being moved to 0 degrees.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has successfully integrated the fifth and final payload to fly aboard the STPSat-3 spacecraft when it launches from Wallops Island, Virginia, in mid-2013.

On 18 January, the Canadian NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Space Surveillance Satellite) arrived in India.

The United States’ Export-Import Bank has authorised an US$87.1 million guarantee of a loan extended by Credit Agricole and other European lenders to Hispasat Canarias S.L.U., a Hispasat S.A. subsidiary based in Madrid, Spain, that will finance the assembly and purchase of a satellite to be manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

RSCC has successfully switched the Tricolor NV and NTV+ telecast packages from the Bonum-1 to the DirecTV-1R satellite. The switchover was performed on 17 January 2013. Both satellites are currently stationed in the 56 degrees East orbital slot which has been assigned to Russia for direct broadcasting.

Prof. U. R. Rao, former Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space is being honoured by the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) by inducting him as a Member of the “Satellite Hall of Fame,” Washington.