Satellite News

Rocket: Rokot/Briz-KM; Payload: three Swarm satellites; Date: 22 November 2013, 1202 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. Some 91 minutes later, the Briz-KM upper stage released the three satellites into a near-polar circular orbit at an altitude of 490 km. There are some indications that a subsequent manoeuvre to lower the upper stage’s altitude did not go as planned.

The checks on the Gaia satellite are proceeding nominally, enabling Arianespace in agreement with ESA to announce the launch date. Lift-off of the Soyuz ST-B launcher is set for 19 December at precisely 0912:18 UTC.

After successfully placing the CASSIOPE satellite into orbit on 29 September, the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1 failed to reignite as planned. The company said it has now identified the cause.