Satellite News

The 51.30 hour countdown for the 28 April launch of the country’s seventh and final navigation satellite, IRNSS-1G, on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C33 from the spaceport of Sriharikota began today.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) announced it was awarded a contract to provide a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite to an undisclosed customer.

e2v has won a major contract with Airbus DS GmbH to design, develop and supply bespoke Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors for the advanced METimage radiometers that will be integrated in a series of three European Space Agency’s Meteorological Operational (MetOp) second generation weather satellites.

Thales Alenia Space announced the official kickoff of its Stratobus research & development project. Stratobus is an autonomous stratospheric airship that was just approved by the French government’s “investment in the future” programme, with funding of EUR17 million. These funds cover a 24-month development phase for key enabling technologies, culminating in the construction of a demonstrator. Since the project has also won support from four different French regions, additional funding of about EUR3 million is expected.

Lockheed Martin reported financial results for the first quarter 2016.

Rocket: Soyuz 2-1.a/Fregat; Payload: Sentinel-1B, Microscope, three cubesats; Date: 25 April 2016, 2102 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. The main payload, Sentinel-1B, separated from the upper stage after approx. 24 minutes as planned. Deployment of the other payloads was expected several hours into the flight (too late for this issue).

A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket has been installed at Russia’s new Vostochny Cosmodrome’s launch site ahead of its first space launch, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roskosmos said in a statement.

The next in a series of GLONASS-M navigation satellites designed and built by Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev Company has been delivered to the Plesetsk cosmodrome.