Satellite News

Specialists have restored communication with Angola’s Angosat 1 satellite, which was launched from the Baikonur spaceport on 26 December.

Rocket: Zenit-3SLBF/Fregat [Zenit-3F, Zenit-2SB/Fregat-SB], Payload: Angosat 1; Date: 26 December 2017, 1900 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launch appears to have been successful, but contact with the satellite was lost shortly thereafter.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2C; Payload: three Yaogan 30 satellites; Date: 25 December 2017, 1944 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China. The satellites have entered its preset orbit and the launch was proclaimed a success.

JAXA has postponed the launch experiment of a microsatellite aboard SS-520 No. 5, due to a malfunction found in a launch vehicle component.

Rocket: H-IIA; Payload: Global Changing Observation Mission – Climate “SHIKISAI” (GCOM-C) and the Super Low Altitude Test Satellite “TSUBAME” (SLATS); Date: 23 December 2017, 0126 UTC; Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The launch and flight of H-IIA F37 proceeded as planned.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 10 Iridium NEXT satellites; Date: 23 December 2017, 0127 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The successful launch marks the midway point of the Iridium NEXT launch programme, and was the first Iridium launch to use a recycled SpaceX rocket.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: LKW-2 (Land Survey Satellite-2); Date: 23 December 2017, 0414 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China. The land exploration satellite was successfully deployed into a preset orbit.

SES-14, the first ever all-electric satellite in the 4-tonne class, has left the Airbus Defence and Space clean rooms in Toulouse. The spacecraft will be delivered to French Guiana for its launch from Kourou CSG (Guiana Space Center), by Ariane 5, in January 2018.