Satellite News

Japan’s ELSA-d satellite intended to demonstrate the project of capturing and removing space junk from orbit is expected to be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket from the Baikonur spaceport in early 2020, the Glavkosmos Launch Services operator said.

Thales Alenia Space has signed two study contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA) in the frame of a joint ESA-NASA study on an international Mars Sample Return mission.

Lockheed Martin has selected Raytheon and a Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace team to compete as potential mission payload providers for the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) Geosynchronous (GEO) Block 0 missile warning satellite system.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: SAOCOM 1A; Date: 8 October 2018, 0222 UTC UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The satellite was deployed about 12 minutes after lift-off.

The Hubble Space Telescope went into Safe Mode on 5 October after a gyroscope failure. Mission experts are taking steps to return Hubble to science.

Thales Alenia Space has won a contract from the European Commission to develop and build an operational ground station on La Reunion Island to track Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO). The contract includes one MEOLUT (Medium Orbit Local User Terminal), engineering support and maintenance services for one year, and the hosting site.

Lockheed Martin announced it is studying interest in flying commercial payloads aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with OHB System AG for the new ESA programme PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) . OHB System AG will be the prime contractor with Thales Alenia Space as a partner. PLATO will be the third medium-class (M3) science mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision Program, following Solar Orbiter (M1) and Euclid (M2), and preceding Ariel (M4). The satellite will be launched in 2026 for an initial mission length of 4.5 years.