Satellite News

For the first time, a ground location was determined using the four Galileo satellites currently in orbit together with their ground facilities. This fundamental step confirms the Galileo system works as planned.

Eutelsat Communications and OneAccess, a manufacturer of multi-service routers and Carrier Ethernet access devices, have joined forces to develop the first performance-enhanced platform for businesses designed to deliver services operated on Eutelsat’s KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite in a secure VPN environment.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd has been awarded a contract from DigitalGlobe Inc. to provide a ground station solution to an international customer to enable access to information from the WorldView satellites.

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.

The Guiana Space Center’s Final Assembly Building has welcomed its second Ariane 5 of 2013 as preparations advance for Arianespace’s fourth heavy-lift launch of an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).