Satellite News

Arianespace will send four more satellites from the O3b constellation into a circular orbit at an altitude of 7,830 km with the eighth Soyuz launch from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

Measat announced that the Measat-3b launch, earlier scheduled for 6 June, has been postponed to no earlier than September. The postponement was called after the manufacturer of the Measat-3b co-passenger Optus 10 requested time for repairs to their satellite.

Three Gonets-M satellites, built by ISS-Reshetnev Company, have been safely shipped to the Plesetsk launch site.

The commission looking into the Proton accident on 16 May will finish its work on 8 June and report the findings to the Russian government. The launch of another Proton-M carrier rocket with a Luch (a.k.a. Olymp) satellite scheduled for 20 June is likely to be postponed.

Thales Alenia Space announced that it will construct a powerful telecommunications condominium satellite, Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3, for Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat. The satellite will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS).

NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. The work marks a major milestone on the path toward the spacecraft’s first launch in December.

NASA and Virgin Galactic, the privately-funded spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, have identified twelve research payloads that will fly to space onboard SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic’s reusable spacecraft.

Russia has “taken under control” the operation of 11 American GPS sites and ensured they cannot be used for military purposes, as Washington and Moscow show no progress in negotiations on setting up Russian GLONASS stations on U.S. territory. However, as this step will not affect accuracy or operation of the GPS, it is regarded as a symbolic act.