Satellite News

Thales Alenia Space announced the launching of the new European project HIPPO (High-Power Photonics for Satellite Laser Communications and On-Board Optical Processing), entailing the development of reliable and robust high-power photonic components for future satellite payloads.

Iridium Communications Inc. and its prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, announced an important milestone in the development of the new Iridium NEXT constellation by completing the first successful end-to-end test call using Iridium NEXT hardware.

Rocket: Delta II 7320; Payload: OCO-2; Date: 2 July 2014, 0956 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The satellite was successfully deployed into its targeted 690-kilometer altitude orbit approximately 56 minutes after launch.

Boeing has finalised a contract with NASA to develop the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS). The US$2.8 billion contract validates Boeing’s earlier selection as the prime contractor on the SLS core stage, including the avionics, under an undefinitised contract authorisation.

Inmarsat plc has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its S-band satellite and up to two further Inmarsat missions.

The next satellite cluster for O3b Networks’ high-speed connectivity system has been mated to its Fregat upper stage in French Guiana, marking one of the final steps in Arianespace’s Soyuz launch campaign for a lift-off next week.

On behalf of RUAG Space, RUAG Real Estate Ltd is building a production hall in Emmen, Switzerland, where payload fairings for launchers will be produced from 2016 onwards. Today was the ground-breaking ceremony.

The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta II carrying NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite was scrubbed today due to an issue with the water suppression system that is used to flow water on the launch pad to dampen the acoustic energy during launch.