Satellite News

ESA’s goal of removing a derelict satellite from orbit is picking up pace, as a mission design is assembled to be put before European ministers next year for approval.

SES announced that Patrick Biewer has been appointed by the LuxGovSat S.A. Board of Directors as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 1 July 2015. Jointly held by SES and the Luxembourg Government, the company’s objectives are the acquisition, the launch and the operation of a satellite for the provision of governmental and military communication services.

Roskosmos has released the investigation results of the failed cargo spacecraft launch in April, blaming a design incompatibility for the failure. The flaw was however unique to the particular combination of rocket (Soyuz-2.1a) and payload (Progress M).

The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center released a formal solicitation seeking proposals for shared public-private investments in rocket propulsion system prototypes.

According to local media reports, the assets of bankrupt Australian satellite operator NewSat are to be sold to a foreign company for up to US$250 million.

SES S.A. announced that StarTimes, a Chinese systems integrator, technology provider and network operator, has extended its partnership with SES on the SES-5 satellite.

Two previous Proton failures are now blamed on the same design flaw hat led to the latest crash of the rocket.

The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a military satellite, previously scheduled for 5 June, has been indefinitely postponed. It will be carried out only after the investigation of the Progress M-27M cargo spacecraft accident is competed, a rocket and space industry source was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.