Satellite News

International Launch Services (ILS) and Hispasat announced a contract for the launch of a satellite on ILS Proton in the first half of 2017 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

SpaceX announced two new orders for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. The contracts include launch of a communications satellite [probably Hispasat 1F or Amazonas 5] for Hispasat on a Falcon 9 and launch of the Saudi Arabian Arabsat 6A communications satellite on a Falcon Heavy.

Virgin Galactic said it has nearly doubled the amount of payload that customers can deliver to orbit for the same price.

Saudi Arabia’s newest communications satellite, the Lockheed Martin-built Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1, will not only be one of the most powerful ever built, it will be among the most agile thanks to new flexible payload technology, the company said.

Fibersat S.A. has signed a framework agreement with Arabsat for the acquisition of a HTS hosted payload in Ka Band on the upcoming Arabsat satellites with extensive coverage over African Markets. Fibersat is expected to commence operation in 2018.

COM DEV International Ltd. announced third quarter financial results for the three-month period ending 31 July 2015.

Rocket: Soyuz 2-1.b/Fregat; Payload: Galileo 9, Galileo 10; Date: 11 September 2015, 0208 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. All Soyuz stages performed as planned, with the Fregat upper stage releasing the satellites into their target orbit around 3 hours and 48 minutes after lift-off.

Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space have signed a feasibility study contract with CNES, the French space agency, for future French space-based civil and military Earth observation systems.