Satellite News

The U.S: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded the investigation of the Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo flight test accident on 31 October 2014 . The NTSB is finalising the final recommendations and probable causes.

The first launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket after the latest failure in May is expected to take place in a period from 28 to 30 August 2015, a source in the Russian space sector was quoted as saying by TASS.

On 24 July, Vladimir Solntsev, Energia President, and Yuri Prokhorov, RSCC Director-General, signed an agreement to co-operate in the field of developing advanced communications and broadcasting satellite systems.

With its biggest orbit manoeuvre since 2006, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will prepare this week for the arrival of NASA’s next Mars lander, InSight, next year.

Rocket: Chang Zheng-3B/Yuanzheng-1; Payload: BDS M1-S, BDS M2-S; Date: 25 July 2015, 1229 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The two navigation satellites reached their target orbits three and a half hours after the launch.

Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites have crossed the Atlantic, touching down in French Guiana ahead of their joint launch this September.

On 26 July at 0930 UTC, ESA handed control of Europe’s last Meteosat Second Generation weather satellite, MSG-4, to EUMETSAT.

Airbus Defence and Space has announced that the planned 67,000 km move of the Skynet 5A satellite over the Asia Pacific region is on track.