Satellite News

SpaceX has indefinitely delayed the launch of AsiaSat 6 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, previously scheduled for 27 August, 0450 UTC.

Under a new strategic co-operation agreement, Lockheed Martin and Electro Optic Systems Pty Ltd are developing a new space object tracking site in Western Australia that will paint a more detailed picture of space debris for both government and commercial customers.

The launch of the first two Galileo FOC satellites aboard a Soyuz has not been as successful as initially claimed in statements by Arianespace and ESA. In fact, the rocket’s Fregat upper stage failed to place the two spacecraft in their target orbits.

Rocket: Soyuz ST-B/Fregat; Payload: Galileo FOC FM1 (Doresa) and FM2 (Milena); Date: 22 August 2014, 1227 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. The two satellites launched on this mission weighing 714.3 and 715.3 kg, have been placed into a circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), at an altitude of 23,522 km. They will be inclined to the Earth’s equator by about 55 degrees.

Sea Launch announced a series of cost-reduction measures designed to address an upcoming gap in the launch manifest of the Zenit-3SL system. According to plan, it is expected that Sea Launch will resume and start stepping-up its launch activity during mid-2015/mid-2016 time frame.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it has completed work on the Himawari-8 satellite, the next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite based on a contract awarded by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Himawari-8 will be delivered soon to Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, from where it is scheduled to be launched into orbit on 7 October.

Globalstar, Inc., announced that Anthony J. (“Tony”) Navarra, President Space Operations will be retiring after more than 20 years with Globalstar.

Arianespace on 21 August decided to postpone the launch of Soyuz flight VS09 carrying Europe’s fifth and sixth Galileo satellites.