Satellite News

ViaSat Inc. said it has filed an additional…Read more

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it is in final preparations for the launch of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft aboard its new Minotaur V rocket. The vehicle is scheduled to be launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia on 7 September 2013 at approximately 0327 UTC. LADEE will mark the first lunar launch from the NASA Wallops facility and Orbital’s first Minotaur rocket launch of a payload that will travel beyond low-Earth orbit.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that its SAT Corporation subsidiary has received an order from Eutelsat to upgrade multiple satID geolocation systems.

O3b Networks and Kymeta Corporation – the company commercialising innovative software-enabled metamaterials-based electronic beamforming antennas for satellite communications – announced an agreement to develop flat panel satellite antennas for the O3b network.

Following the first meeting of the joint government-industry committee on space, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research announced that the government was allocating EUR25 million to an upgrade of the Ariane 5 launcher, within the scope of France’s Investment Program for the Future (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir, or PIA).

Magellan Aerospace Corporation (Magellan) announced the award of a C$110 million contract from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia, for the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) satellite bus manufacture. The RCM is comprised of three low Earth orbit spacecraft, each carrying a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.

The Alphasat satellite, first application of the new Alphabus platform, was launched on 25 July. The orbital positioning phase has now been completed, validating the electric propulsion system developed by Thales Alenia Space, which will provide satellite station-keeping throughout its expected 15 year service life.

Raytheon Company received Interim Authorisation to Test (IATT) security certification for the Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX) Launch and Checkout System (LCS) four months ahead of schedule.