Satellite News

The fourth Space Based Infrared System Highly Elliptical Orbit payload was shipped on 13 May from Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Azusa, California, by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, the SBIRS prime contractor.

The world’s first spacecraft thruster with a platinum combustion chamber and nozzle made by 3D printing has passed its baptism of fire with a series of firings lasting more than an hour and 618 ignitions.

The TEKEVER Group, an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) manufacturer, and ViaSat have announced a strategic alliance to expand the civilian use of drones with advanced satellite communications.

Globalstar, Inc. announced that Lockheed Martin Flight Service (LMFS) will integrate and provide automated position monitoring for VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flights.

So far, the Rosetta orbiter has received no new signals from the Philae lander on the surface of Comet 67P/C-G since the last signal receipt on the evening of 14 June. Teams at ESA, DLR and CNES have agreed to a new orbiter trajectory that will optimise the opportunities for lander-to-orbiter communication.

Indra has been awarded a contract for the deployment in Papeete (French Polynesia) of a new Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) Station, which will expand the ground segment of the European global positioning system, Galileo.

Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) has reached an agreement with the French State and CNES, the French space agency, to transfer CNES’s stake in Arianespace. After the completion of all regulatory consultation and approval procedures, Airbus Safran Launchers in consequence plans to hold 74% of Arianespace’s share capital.

Rosetta’s lander Philae has woken up after seven months in hibernation on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The receipt of signals from Rosetta’s Philae lander on 13 June after 211 days of hibernation marked the start of intense activity. In coordination with its mission partners, ESA teams are working to juggle Rosetta’s flight plan to help with renewed lander science investigations.