Satellite News

Phase Four, a provider of electric radio frequency (RF) thrusters for in-space propulsion, announced that NASA has purchased one of Phase Four’s second-generation RF thrusters to vet its capabilities for small satellite propulsion.

Orbital ATK announced that the “S.S. J.R. Thompson” Cygnus spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing manoeuvres with the International Space Station.

Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully completed hot-fire testing of a new in-space engine, designated ISE-100.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Teledyne e2v, a division of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, with the second phase of a EUR42 million contract to produce high-end Charge Coupled Device (CCD) visible light image sensors for the PLATO (Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) mission.

ICEYE, an Earth observation company providing synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data, announced US$34 million Series B funding led by return investor True Ventures and supported by Draper Network VC funds and others.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that SpaceX successfully launched five Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Shortly after deployment, Iridium confirmed successful communication with all five new satellites, formally bringing the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit to 55.

The recently launched GOES-17 weather satellite has a serious cooling problem that could affect the quality of its pictures. The satellite’s primary weather-monitoring instrument — the Advanced Baseline Imager — is not performing to specifications for about six hours each day.

NASA has awarded a contract to Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, for the primary instrument components for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).