Satellite News

NASA officially is beginning work on the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

Airbus Defence and Space said it is working with local service providers to develop new partnerships to deliver highly resilient Skynet military satellite communication services to the Asia Pacific region, following the successful completion of Skynet 5A satellite move from 6 degrees East to 95 degrees East to provide global X-band and UHF coverage in this region.

SpeedCast International Limited announced a new agreement with Gazprom Space Systems (“GSS”) to expand satellite communications services in Africa.

Rocket: H-IIA; Payload: ASTRO-H “Hitomi”, Horyu-4, ChubuSat 2, ChubuSat 3; Date: 17 February 2016, 0845 UTC; Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The launch vehicle flew as planned, and at approximately 14 minutes and 15 seconds after lift-off, the separation of ASTRO-H into a 551 km x 579 km x 31 degrees orbit was confirmed. The satellite has deployed its solar array paddles and is in good health.

The Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications reviewed the financial results for the half-year ended 31 December 2015.

Earth at Perihelion and Aphelion: 2001 to 2050

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Year      Date/Time of    Distance     Relative to     Date/Time of    Distance     Relative to    Perihelion
           Perihelion                    Mean Per.       Aphelion                     Mean Ap.      Interval
 
2001     Jan 04  08:52   0.9832860 AU    -582 km      Jul 04  13:37   1.0166426 AU  -10122 km     367.15 days
2002     Jan 02  14:09   0.9832898 AU     -20 km      Jul 06  03:47   1.0166882 AU   -3304 km     363.22 days
2003     Jan 04  05:02   0.9833204 AU    4556 km      Jul 04  05:40   1.0167282 AU    2683 km     366.62 days
2004     Jan 04  17:42   0.9832648 AU   -3752 km      Jul 05  10:54   1.0166937 AU   -2485 km     365.53 days
2005     Jan 02  00:35   0.9832968 AU    1032 km      Jul 05  04:58   1.0167416 AU    4683 km     363.29 days
2006     Jan 04  15:30   0.9833270 AU    5543 km      Jul 03  23:10   1.0166973 AU   -1949 km     367.62 days
2007     Jan 03  19:43   0.9832602 AU   -4449 km      Jul 06  23:53   1.0167059 AU    -649 km     364.18 days
2008     Jan 02  23:51   0.9832801 AU   -1476 km      Jul 04  07:41   1.0167535 AU    6465 km     364.17 days
2009     Jan 04  15:30   0.9832730 AU   -2526 km      Jul 04  01:40   1.0166664 AU   -6563 km     367.65 days
2010     Jan 03  00:09   0.9832897 AU     -38 km      Jul 06  11:30   1.0167020 AU   -1246 km     363.36 days

2011     Jan 03  18:32   0.9833413 AU    7681 km      Jul 04  14:54   1.0167404 AU    4501 km     365.77 days
2012     Jan 05  00:32   0.9832841 AU    -871 km      Jul 05  03:32   1.0166751 AU   -5270 km     366.25 days
2013     Jan 02  04:38   0.9832905 AU      82 km      Jul 05  14:44   1.0167085 AU    -268 km     363.17 days
2014     Jan 04  11:59   0.9833347 AU    6701 km      Jul 04  00:13   1.0166816 AU   -4287 km     367.31 days
2015     Jan 04  06:36   0.9832774 AU   -1874 km      Jul 06  19:40   1.0166821 AU   -4214 km     364.78 days
2016     Jan 02  22:49   0.9833039 AU    2097 km      Jul 04  16:24   1.0167509 AU    6080 km     363.68 days
2017     Jan 04  14:18   0.9833094 AU    2919 km      Jul 03  20:11   1.0166756 AU   -5190 km     367.65 days
2018     Jan 03  05:35   0.9832843 AU    -845 km      Jul 06  16:47   1.0166961 AU   -2129 km     363.64 days
2019     Jan 03  05:20   0.9833012 AU    1681 km      Jul 04  22:11   1.0167543 AU    6590 km     364.99 days
2020     Jan 05  07:48   0.9832436 AU   -6935 km      Jul 04  11:35   1.0166943 AU   -2399 km     367.10 days

2021     Jan 02  13:51   0.9832571 AU   -4916 km      Jul 05  22:27   1.0167292 AU    2832 km     363.25 days
2022     Jan 04  06:55   0.9833365 AU    6973 km      Jul 04  07:11   1.0167154 AU     760 km     366.71 days
2023     Jan 04  16:17   0.9832956 AU     845 km      Jul 06  20:07   1.0166806 AU   -4444 km     365.39 days
2024     Jan 03  00:39   0.9833070 AU    2553 km      Jul 05  05:06   1.0167255 AU    2273 km     363.35 days
2025     Jan 04  13:28   0.9833274 AU    5607 km      Jul 03  19:55   1.0166437 AU   -9957 km     367.53 days
2026     Jan 03  17:16   0.9833021 AU    1815 km      Jul 06  17:31   1.0166440 AU   -9920 km     364.16 days
2027     Jan 03  02:33   0.9833335 AU    6513 km      Jul 05  05:06   1.0167289 AU    2786 km     364.39 days
2028     Jan 05  12:28   0.9833074 AU    2608 km      Jul 03  22:18   1.0166798 AU   -4566 km     367.41 days
2029     Jan 02  18:13   0.9832917 AU     270 km      Jul 06  05:12   1.0167127 AU     362 km     363.24 days
2030     Jan 03  10:12   0.9833418 AU    7758 km      Jul 04  12:58   1.0167227 AU    1848 km     365.67 days

2031     Jan 04  20:48   0.9832664 AU   -3516 km      Jul 06  07:10   1.0166882 AU   -3308 km     366.44 days
2032     Jan 03  05:11   0.9832469 AU   -6437 km      Jul 05  11:54   1.0167510 AU    6086 km     363.35 days
2033     Jan 04  11:51   0.9832989 AU    1350 km      Jul 03  20:52   1.0166936 AU   -2494 km     367.28 days
2034     Jan 04  04:47   0.9832893 AU     -89 km      Jul 06  18:49   1.0166703 AU   -5979 km     364.71 days
2035     Jan 03  00:54   0.9833249 AU    5238 km      Jul 05  18:22   1.0167406 AU    4539 km     363.84 days
2036     Jan 05  14:17   0.9833202 AU    4530 km      Jul 03  21:17   1.0166633 AU   -7033 km     367.56 days
2037     Jan 03  04:00   0.9832889 AU    -152 km      Jul 06  12:05   1.0166651 AU   -6753 km     363.57 days
2038     Jan 03  05:01   0.9833549 AU    9718 km      Jul 04  19:46   1.0166909 AU   -2904 km     365.04 days
2039     Jan 05  06:41   0.9833113 AU    3192 km      Jul 05  13:25   1.0166588 AU   -7700 km     367.07 days
2040     Jan 03  11:33   0.9832937 AU     557 km      Jul 05  19:02   1.0167271 AU    2517 km     363.20 days

2041     Jan 03  21:52   0.9833471 AU    8554 km      Jul 04  01:38   1.0166887 AU   -3235 km     366.43 days
2042     Jan 04  09:07   0.9833014 AU    1723 km      Jul 06  13:10   1.0166554 AU   -8212 km     365.47 days
2043     Jan 02  22:15   0.9832882 AU    -257 km      Jul 06  02:25   1.0167441 AU    5064 km     363.55 days
2044     Jan 05  12:52   0.9832896 AU     -44 km      Jul 03  15:24   1.0166960 AU   -2140 km     367.61 days
2045     Jan 03  14:56   0.9832653 AU   -3677 km      Jul 06  12:51   1.0166888 AU   -3210 km     364.09 days
2046     Jan 03  00:58   0.9833451 AU    8247 km      Jul 05  06:06   1.0167265 AU    2432 km     364.42 days
2047     Jan 05  11:44   0.9833216 AU    4738 km      Jul 05  06:32   1.0166728 AU   -5608 km     367.45 days
2048     Jan 03  18:05   0.9832818 AU   -1219 km      Jul 06  05:08   1.0167072 AU    -469 km     363.26 days
2049     Jan 03  10:27   0.9833342 AU    6626 km      Jul 04  09:06   1.0166722 AU   -5702 km     365.68 days
2050     Jan 04  19:35   0.9833060 AU    2411 km      Jul 06  01:57   1.0166285 AU  -12240 km     366.38 days

Credit: http://www.astropixels.com/

Rocket: Rokot/Briz-KM; Payload: Sentinel-3A; Date: 16 February 2016, 1757 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The launch vehicle orbited Sentinel-3A into an orbit of approx. 815 km altitude and 98.65 degrees. This launch was Eurockot’s first in support of the European Copernicus satellite system.

Two new contracts totalling EUR138 million have been signed as part of Finmeccanica space activities relating to the Copernicus programme’s Sentinel-3 mission, led by the European Commission in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and with the contribution of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).