Satellite News

GOES-17 is now operational as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES West satellite.

Arianespace and Open Cosmos, a company providing turnkey space missions, announced that they have signed a contract for the launch of an innovative CubeSat deployment solution.

Spaceflight announced it will launch two payloads on its first rideshare mission to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The mission is scheduled for no earlier than mid-February 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The U.S. Department of Defense will evaluate the certification for SpaceX launch vehicles to determine whether the U.S. Air Force complied with certain guidelines, according to a memo.

Eutelsat Communications has signed simultaneous multi-year contracts with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and the Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters for video capacity on its Eutelsat 8 West B satellite.

China announced that it is developing a modified version of the Chang Zheng-6 rocket to add four solid boosters to increase its carrying capacity.

Airbus said it is expanding its aerospace activities at its site in Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen, near Munich with the modernisation of solar array production for satellites, and with the commissioning of expanded clean rooms for optical satellite instruments. In total, the company will be investing approximately EUR25 million.

French Guiana has welcomed the four passengers for Arianespace’s second Soyuz mission in 2019, which will further expand the SES-owned O3b satellite constellation.