Satellite News

Russia’s Ball Lens In The Space nanosatellite (BLITS) has apparently collided with orbital debris from the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test.

The engineering model of the BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module has completed a 12-day Sun-simulation test inside the Large Space Simulator at ESA’s test centre in the Netherlands, where it received a taste of the extreme solar heating it will experience when it enters orbit around the Solar System’s innermost planet in 2022.

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that the satellites that the company designed and built marked 1,000 years of cumulative in-orbit operational experience. This achievement has been accomplished by only four other companies since the dawn of the space age.

Intelsat S.A. announced a number of executive appointments.