Satellite News

Engineers at Lockheed Martin recently proved their design for the world’s most powerful Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite can operate in and withstand the harsh conditions it will experience on orbit.

The first European part made in space by the additive manufacturing process, also known as 3D printing, took place on 2 February 2016, aboard the International Space Station.

Slated for launch in 2018, NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will carry a 3D printed part made of polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), a material that has never been used in 3D manufacturing, let alone flown in space.

SES S.A. announced that it has launched a new satellite data network, SES Plus, that will offer customised products and solutions to tackle the evolving needs of the markets.

The first flight of NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will carry 13 CubeSats to test innovative ideas along with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2018, the agency said.

Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites have started broadcasting working navigation messages. These two satellites were launched together on 11 September last year.

International Launch Services (ILS) successfully placed the Eutelsat 9B satellite into a 4,371 km x 35,687 km x 12.05 degrees geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3C/YZ-1; Payload: BDS M3-S [Beidou Daohang Weixing 21, Beidou DW 21, Beidou 21]; Date: 1 February 2016, 0729 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The experimental navigation satellite was successfully deployed into a 21,512 km x 21,981 km x 55 degrees orbit.