Satellite News

Roskosmos executive director Sergey Krikalev confirmed that the failure of a Soyuz FG on 11 October was indeed caused by a collision between the first and second stages after separation. In related news, three more Soyuz launches are planned before the next crewed mission, tentatively scheduled for 3 December. The Soyuz failure reportedly has also caused some insurance problems for at least one future launch.

Telesat announced that its new Telstar 18 VANTAGE high throughput satellite (HTS) is fully operational at 138 degrees East and has entered commercial service.

Eutelsat Communications reported revenues for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2018-19.

Maxar Technologies Ltd. reported financial results for the third quarter ending 30 September 2018.

For its eighth launch of the year, and the second Soyuz lift-off from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana in 2018, Arianespace will orbit MetOp-C for EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

Experts at the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan will dismantle the four strap-on boosters of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket, which is scheduled for launch in November, and re-inspect them in order to avoid launch failures like that on 11 October, a Baikonur source was quoted as saying.

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed qualification testing for the enhanced reaction control thruster system for NASA’s Orion crew vehicle, helping to clear the way for the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft’s second test flight, and first mission to cislunar space, called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system.