Satellite News

Intelsat S.A. said it is preparing for the launch of Intelsat 35e, the fourth in their next-generation of high throughput satellites. The high performance satellite will be launched by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle on 2 July 2017 at 2336 UTC in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The United States Air Force announced that United Launch Alliance (ULA) was awarded a contract to launch the Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission. This contract resulted from a competitive award under the Air Force’s Phase 1A procurement strategy.

Russian space manufacturer Energomash has sent to its U.S. contractor four RD-180 rocket engines that run on United Launch Alliance-built Atlas 5 rockets, the Russian company said.

OneWeb Satellites has inaugurated its assembly line in Toulouse to begin end-to-end validation, testing, and integration of its first satellites set for launch in just over nine months.

Northrop Grumman Corporation said reached another major milestone for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with the delivery of the mid-boom assemblies. The graphite-epoxy assemblies were designed, built, and tested by Astro Aerospace, a Northrop Grumman business.

D-Sat, the first nanosatellite with the ability to remove itself from orbit in a direct and controlled way through a dedicated device at the end of its mission, was successfully launched on 23 June 2017, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India atop a PSLV rocket.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 10 Iridium NEXT satellites; Date: 25 June 2017, 2025 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The satellites were deployed into low-Earth orbit approximately one hour after lift-off.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) announced that the BulgariaSat-1 satellite, designed and built for Bulgaria Sat, an affiliate of Bulsatcom, is successfully performing post-launch manoeuvres according to plan.