Satellite News

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B; Payload: Zhongxing-2D [ChinaSat-2D]; Date: 10 January 2019, 1711 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China. People’s Liberation Army Daily, a military newspaper, confirmed the payload’s delivery into geostationary transfer orbit 70 minutes later.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 10 Iridium NEXT satellites; Date: 11 January 2019, 1531 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. Falcon 9’s first stage delivered the second stage to its targeted orbit followed by deployment of all 10 Iridium NEXT satellites approximately 1 hour and 12 minutes after launch.

Roscosmos said its specialists are attempting to fix problems that have blocked control of the Spektr-R satellite radio telescope.