Satellite News

Inmarsat plc reported consolidated preliminary financial results for the year ending 31 December 2014.

The launch of India’s fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D onboard PSLV-C27, originally scheduled for 9 March 2015 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has been postponed.

The Ekspress-AM8 satellite was delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 2 March 2015. The spacecraft is currently being processed for launch. The launch of Proton-M/Briz-M with the Ekspress-AM8 on board is scheduled for 6 April 2015.

The Sicral 2 telecommunications satellite, a joint undertaking of the Italian Ministry of Defense and the French defence procurement agency DGA (part of the Ministry of Defence), has arrived at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana for an Ariane 5 launch on 15 April.

Magellan Aerospace and the University of Manitoba have unveiled their new Advanced Satellite Integration Facility (or ASIF) at Magellan’s facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The facility will support research, development, construction and testing of satellite systems and components.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is expected to remain stationary for several days of engineering analysis following an onboard fault-protection action on 27 February that halted a process of transferring sample material between devices on the rover’s robotic arm.

The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center along with the Airmen from the 460th Operations Group successfully commanded on-orbit missile-warning satellites from its new Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) ground system, currently in development.

The disintegration of the ageing U.S. military weather satellite DMSP-F13 may have been caused by an exploded battery. It was not the first incident of its kind.