Satellite News

Rocket: Electron; Payload: R3D2; Date: 26 March 2019, 2327 UTC; Launch site: Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The mission launched a prototype reflect array antenna to orbit for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B/G2; Payload: Tianlian 2-01; Date: 31 March 2019, 1551 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The People’s Liberation Army media arm said that the communications relay satellite was sucessfully deployed into geostationary transfer orbit.

Airbus Defence and Space has completed construction of the Cheops satellite (Characterising Exoplanet Satellite). The European Space Agency (ESA) recently gave the green light at the Qualification and Acceptance Review.

York Space Systems announced its S-CLASS spacecraft platform has officially been shipped to the launch site for the company’s inaugural mission.

For its fourth mission of 2019 — and the second this year with the Soyuz medium launcher from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana, Arianespace will be launching four more O3b satellites for SES. Lift-off is currently scheduled for 4 April 2019, 1630 UTC.

The U.S. Air Force is tracking at least 270 debris fragments created by an Indian anti-satellite missile test, but the debris field posed no immediate threat to the International Space Station or most other satellites in low Earth orbit, U.S. military officials said.

India successfully tested an indigenously-developed anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile, shooting down a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite. The announcement about the test was made in a national broadcast by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the action was not directed against any country and the satellite was a pre-determined target orbiting at an altitude of 300 km.

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has been awarded the prime contract to develop the next generation cluster of formation-flying microsatellites for HawkEye 360 Inc.