Satellite News

Airbus Defence and Space has entered into an agreement to sell its 49% share in Atlas Elektronik Group to thyssenkrupp AG based in Essen, Germany.

JAXA has postponed the launch of a mini rocket that will put a satellite into space because of strong wind, an agency spokeswoman said.

The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center sponsored ninth Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft has arrived at Titusville-Cocoa Airport, Florida. WGS-9 will provide additional communications capabilities to both U.S. forces and international partners.

The U.S. Air Force’s next Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, was encapsulated on 7 January at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it will launch on 20 January (UTC) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The Bangabandhu programme has started the production phase with the integration of the communications module in Thales Alenia Space plant in Toulouse and the service module in Cannes, with the mating set for March 2017. At the same time, the ground team is kicking off factory acceptance tests and starting local work on the installation of ground antennas.

Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev Company has begun building the new telecommunications satellites Ekspress-80 and Ekspress-103.

Rocket: Kuaizhou-1A; Payload: JL-1, XY-S1, Caton-1; Date: 9 January 2017, 0411 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The small rocket sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission.

SpaceX’s planned rocket launch of 10 Iridium Next satellites aboard a Falcon 9 was delayed until 14 January owing to bad weather.