Satellite News

Kongsberg Spacetec AS (KSPT) has been awarded a contract with Raytheon Company of the U.S. for delivery of parts of the ground segment for the satellite programme Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). The contract has a significant potential for extensions, maintenance/support and technical updates after 5 years.

Rocket: Atlas V 401; Payload: DMSP-19; Date: 3 April 2014, 1446 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The military weather satellite was placed into a near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbit.

Rocket: Soyuz/Fregat; Payload: Sentinel-1A; Date: 3 April 2014, 2102 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. The Earth observation satellite separated from the upper stage some 23 minutes after lift-off as planned and is now in a at 693-km Sun-synchronous orbit.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) said its Phoenix has achieved promising Phase 1 results. The agency has awarded eight companies prime contracts for its Phase 2 efforts.

Eutelsat Communications announced that the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) has concluded a multi-year contract for Ku-band capacity on the Eutelsat 21B satellite that provides coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

The Soyuz for Arianespace’s seventh mission with its medium-lift workhorse launcher is now in the launch zone at French Guiana, ready to receive the Sentinel-1A satellite payload for Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation programme.

The launch rehearsal for India’s second navigational satellite IRNSS 1B was completed successfully at the spaceport of Sriharikota, setting the stage for commencement of over 58-hour countdown for its lift off onboard PSLV C24 on 4 April.

Tempus Global Data, Inc. announced that it has opened operations in Utah to deliver weather data through the use of the Utah State University-built Sounding & Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology instrument under an exclusive agreement.