Satellite News

Pre-launch processing of a Proton-M with Briz-M upper stage and the Mexican MexSat-1 communications satellite continues at Baikonur cosmodrome.

Orbital ATK, Inc. has signed a US$90 million contract with Lockheed Martin to provide the Attitude Control Motor (ACM) for Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS).

Blue Origin recently completed acceptance testing of its BE-3 rocket engine, the first new hydrogen engine to be developed in the United States in more than a decade. It has been fired for more than 30,000 seconds over the course of 450 tests.

Since its capture by the gravity of dwarf planet Ceres on 6 March NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has performed flawlessly, continuing to thrust with its ion engine as planned. The thrust, combined with Ceres’ gravity, is gradually guiding the spacecraft into a circular orbit around the dwarf planet. All of the spacecraft’s systems and instruments are in excellent health.