Satellite News

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that its Kratos ISI business unit was awarded a contract by Sky Perfect JSAT (SJC) for the design, supply, delivery, installation and test of a TT&C antenna and associated RF system for the JCSAT-16 satellite. The project, which has successfully completed the critical design review phase, is scheduled for completion this summer, well in advance of the JCSAT-16 launch, scheduled for 2016.

China will launch a data relay satellite to ensure communication between Earth and the lunar probe during an expedition to the far side of the moon, Ye Peijian, chief scientist with China’s lunar exploration programme, was quoted as saying.

Eutelsat 65 West A has been mated to Ariane 5 and encapsulated inside the launcher’s payload fairing, enabling final integration checkout to begin.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Blue Origin LLC entered into a public-private partnership with the U.S. Air Force to develop a new rocket propulsion system to power Vulcan — ULA’s next-generation launch system. The Air Force also awarded a separate development contract to an Aerojet Rocketdyne-ULA team for the AR1 engine.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed the completion of a sequence of important operations of the X-ray Astronomy Satellite “Hitomi” (ASTRO-H).

Orbcomm Inc. announced it has launched commercial service for its final 11 second generation OG2 satellites. Orbcomm’s advanced OG2 satellites are providing both M2M messaging and Automatic Identification System (AIS) service. Orbcomm successfully launched the 11 OG2 satellites on 21 December 2015, aboard a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

On 29 February, a test model of Orion’s solar array was unfolded at NASA’s Plum Brook Station test facility in Sandusky, Ohio to check everything works as expected. The solar panels were made by Airbus Defence and Space in the Netherlands for the ESA module that will supply power and life support for up to four astronauts.

Space Systems Loral announced it will design and build a robotic Sample Handling Assembly (SHA) for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) through MDA US Systems, a division of MDA, managed by SSL.