Satellite News

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Eutelsat 117 West B, ABS-2A; Date: 15 June 2016, 1429 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellites were deployed into nominal supersynchronous transfer orbit.

Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 flight has been authorised for lift-off on 16 June following a launch readiness review.

ULA successfully delivered the OA-6 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on 22 March. During the first stage burn, the Atlas V system experienced an anomalous propellant mixture ratio resulting in an early booster shutdown and degradation of first stage performance.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that its first Iridium NEXT satellites have completed assembly and testing, and are now prepared for shipment to the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirty sixth flight (PSLV-C34), will launch the 727.5 kg Cartosat-2C satellite for Earth observation and 19 co-passenger satellites with a total mass of about 560 kg at lift-off into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

The fifth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy was recently encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing. It is scheduled to launch 24 June between 1430 and 1514 UTC aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The multipurpose Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission recently arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The forthcoming International Space Station (ISS) payload was transported from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, aboard a climate-controlled, air-suspension truck.

Orbital ATK, Inc. announced that the “S.S. Rick Husband” Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed from the International Space Station, completing an 81-day stay at the orbiting laboratory.