Satellite News

Lockheed Martin has received a US$19.4 million support contract extension for the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft through September 2018, with a further extension possible through September 2019.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2F; Payload: Tiangong 2, Banxing 2; Date: 15 September 2016, 1400 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. “Tiangong 2 operates normally, and the orbit injection fulfilled the requirements, and the solar panels are also stretched out,” said Gen. Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China’s human spaceflight programme.

China’s first commercial space industry base, the Wuhan National Space Industry Base, will focus on the development of carrier rockets and satellites, commercial launch services and applications of satellite data, state media reported.

Airbus Defence and Space said it is designing and building a new constellation of optical satellites, comprising four identical and very agile sensors delivering very high-resolution imagery.

Satellite environmental data provider GeoOptics has been awarded a data purchase contract from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under its Commercial Weather Data Pilot programme. This is the first time NOAA has contracted to purchase satellite weather data from a commercial provider.

International Launch Services (ILS) announced a product line extension of the Proton Briz M commercial launch vehicle designed to expand the addressable GEO market for cost effective launch solutions in the small and medium satellite class range (3 to 5 metric tons).

United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced a new service called RapidLaunch for its Atlas V rocket, which according to the company provides the customer the fastest schedule from the initial order to launch service in the industry.

According to the 19th edition of the report Satellites to be Built & Launched (over the next ten years), Euroconsult anticipates that 145 satellites with launch mass over 50 kg will be launched on average each year by 2025 for government agencies and commercial organisations worldwide. When including satellites smaller than 50 kg and the two mega constellations of OneWeb and SpaceX, the total would grow precipitously to 9,000 units (vs. 1,480 launched in the past ten years).