Satellite News

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D/YZ-3; Payload: Hongyan-1, six Yunhai-2 satellites; Date: 29 December 2018, 0800 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-71 mission will launch no earlier than Sunday, 6 January 2019.

The preparation and holding of planned launches of the Russian Soyuz-2 rockets at Baikonur Cosmodrome will face technical difficulties in 2020, a source in the aerospace industry was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has started to provide global service, according to BDS Spokesperson Ran Chengqi.

Rocket: Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat; Payload: Kanopus-V No. 5, Kanopus-V No. 6, 26 small satellites; Date: 27 December 2018, 0207 UTC; Launch site: Vostochny, Russia. In accordance with the flight programme, the Fregat upper stage injected primary and piggyback payload satellites into low-Earth orbit.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3C/G2; Payload: Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing 3 (TJSW-3, TJS-3); Date: 24 December 2018, 1653 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. State media confirmed success of the launch 40 minutes later via social media, with the satellite inserted into geostationary transfer orbit.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: GPS III SV01; Date: 23 December 2018, 1351 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The satellite was deployed to its intended orbit approximately 1 hour and 56 minutes after lift-off.

Rocket: Proton M/Briz-M; Payload: Blagovest No.13L [Kosmos-2533]; Date: 21 December 2018, 0020 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. “The upper stage of the Proton-M rocket, comprising the Briz-M booster and the Russian Defense Ministry’s spacecraft, separated as scheduled, at 03:30 Moscow time [0030 UTC],” the Defense Ministry said.