Satellite News

The first test launch of Russia’s Angara light-weight rocket, initially set for 25 June, may be conducted from the Plesetsk Cosmodrone in the Arkhangelsk region on 27 June, a Russian space rocket industry source was quoted as saying.

Eutelsat Communications announced it is embarking on a new triple mission satellite programme that will support sustained demand for capacity for data, fixed and mobile broadband services as well as video.

European Space Propulsion (ESP), an Aerojet Rocketdyne company, has delivered the first set of satellite thrusters to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., in support of a joint mission between Taiwan and the United States to observe and monitor the global climate, atmosphere and ionosphere for enhanced weather forecasting.

NASA has selected Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to develop CuSPP, a CubeSat mission to study Solar Particles over the Earth’s Poles. SwRI will also lead mission science operations and data analysis.

Harris Corporation has installed and integrated a majority of the hardware and software that forms the network infrastructure for the ground segment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R Series (GOES-R) programme.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has signed commercial contracts with multiple U.S. companies to investigate next-generation liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon first stage propulsion concepts. In collaboration with ULA, each company will conduct technical feasibility analysis, develop high fidelity plans, identify schedule, cost and technical risks, as well as cost estimates to meet aggressive recurring cost targets. All concepts will support a first launch by 2019.

The upcoming Arianespace Soyuz mission for O3b Networks has entered its next phase of preparations, as fuelling is now underway in French Guiana with this global satellite service provider’s second batch of spacecraft – which will deliver connectivity to emerging markets worldwide.

The launch of NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission (OCO-2) at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California, is scheduled for 1 July. Lift-off from Space Launch Complex 2 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is targeted for 0956 UTC at the opening of a 30-second launch window.