Satellite News

After a year-long wait in storage for a Proton rocket to become available, the EDRS-A laser communications payload and its Eutelsat host satellite are finally at the Baikonur cosmodrome and being prepared for launch in late January.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) has been selected by NASA for a multi-million dollar contract to develop on-orbit robotic satellite assembly technology.

NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Series satellite-R (GOES-R) will now be launched in October 2016 aboard an Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Orbital ATK, Inc. announced that the “S.S. Deke Slayton II” Cygnus spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing procedures with the International Space Station (ISS). This is the company’s fourth successful berthing with the orbiting laboratory, and the third under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed it successfully inserted the Venus Climate Orbiter “Akatsuki” into the orbit circling around Venus.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Defence and Space have signed a EUR350 million contract to develop and build ESA’s JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) spacecraft. JUICE is the first large mission of the ESA Cosmic Vision programme, with a launch date in 2022.

The Russian satellite Kanopus-ST, which failed to separate from its carrier rocket’s Volga upper stage, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on Tuesday.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) of its STPSat-5 satellite for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program (STP), confirming that the satellite will meet mission requirements and is sufficiently mature to begin fabrication.