Satellite News

Build-up of the initial Ariane 5 to be launched in 2016 has begun at the Spaceport in French Guiana, readying an unusual single-payload flight for the heavy-lift workhorse.

The launch campaign for Sentinel-3A, the next satellite of the European Commission’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme, has started.

NASA’s InSight Mars lander has a leak that could delay the mission. The agency said that the leak is in one of two prime science instruments. The seismic experiment belongs to the French Space Agency.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a five-year highway bill that would fund America’s roads, bridges and mass-transit systems and revive the charter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank over the objections of conservative Republicans.

U.S. federal regulators have approved LightSquared’s request to transfer its valuable spectrum licenses to a newly formed company, paving the way for the wireless venture to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of the year.

Rocket: Vega; Payload: LISA Pathfinder; Date: 3 December 2015, 0404 UTC; Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite was placed in a 213 km x 1,482 km x 6.0 degrees orbit.

PlanetiQ has signed a contract with Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for the launch of PlanetiQ’s first two weather satellites on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) during the fourth quarter of 2016.

Virgin Galactic has introduced a Boeing 747 to its fleet of vehicles as part of a technical update on its LauncherOne small satellite launch service. The 747-400 commercial jet aircraft, previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname ‘Cosmic Girl,’ will provide a dedicated launch platform for the LauncherOne orbital vehicle.