Satellite News

Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b (no upper stage); Payload: Lotos-S No. 802 (Kosmos 2503?); Date: 25 December 2014, 0301 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The 6,000-kg electronic intelligence (ELINT) satellite was placed in a 242 km x 899 km x 67.2 degrees orbit.

Rocket: Angara A5.1 L/Briz M; Payload: dummy mass; Date: 23 December, 0557 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. In this first flight test of the newest Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle, a satellite mockup was successfully brought into geostationary orbit (but was, as per plan, not deployed).

ATK and NASA have announced an agreement to support near-term core technologies for Satellite Life Extension, Robotic Satellite Repair, and Satellite Refuelling.

SES S.A. announced that the Astra 2G satellite is ready for its scheduled launch on board an ILS Proton booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 27 December at 2237 UTC.

The latest Galileo navigation satellite will undergo a full checkout in Europe’s largest satellite test facility to prove its readiness for space.

The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) and RSCC have agreed to transfer transmission of digital channels from international to domestic satellites.

Rocket: Strela; Payload: Kondor-E2; Date: 19 December, 0443 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The radar imaging satellites was successfully deployed to its target orbit.

The third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy was encapsulated into its payload fairing on 18 December. It is scheduled to launch 20 January aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.