Satellite News

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Ekspress-AT1, Ekspress-AT2; Date: 15 March 2014, 2308 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Ekspress-AT1 spacecraft separated from the Khrunichev-built vehicle at 0810 UTC on 16 March, and 18 minutes later the nominal separation of Ekspress-AT2 from the upper stage took place.

The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) confirmed that the launch of the Cbers-4 satellite, developed in co-operation with China, is expected to take place in the first half of December.

The launch of Kazakhstan’s telecommunications satellite KazSat-3 is scheduled for 28 April (possibly 27 April UTC) of this year, according to the Chairman of Kazakh National Space Agency Kazkosmos, Talgat Musabayev .

Planet Labs announced that it has confirmed launches for more than 100 satellites over the next 12 months. The satellites will launch on rockets from the USA and Russia. This constitutes the largest constellation of satellites manifested in history.

Arabsat announced the release of a Request for Proposal for the procurement of four new satellites to be designated HS3, HS4, ARB6E and ARB6A.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has applied power to the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) spacecraft bus for the first time, a significant milestone for achieving on-time delivery to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a planned early 2017 launch.