Satellite News

China’s first rocket for commercial use, the Smart Dragon-1 (SD-1), has finished its engine test, paving way for its maiden flight in the first half of 2019, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT).

Authorisation has been granted for tomorrow’s Arianespace Soyuz launch from the Spaceport in French Guiana, providing the “green light” for this mission to orbit the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th satellites in SES’ O3b constellation.

Russian space corporation Roskosmos is set to help S7 Group in the development of the Sea Launch project after the tragic death of the company’s co-owner Natalya Fileva, Roskosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying.

India declined to comment on a statement by a U.S. space official that India’s recent test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon created debris that could threaten the International Space Station. According to an expert, there are currently no usable data portraying the ASAT test.

The European Data Relay System (EDRS)–dubbed the “SpaceDataHighway” by its private operator, Airbus–has passed another milestone.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that India’s recent ASAT test has created 400 pieces of orbital debris, some of which could endanger the International Space Station. Also, a report claims that the test was preceded by another one in February, which however failed.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and Oxford Space Systems (OSS) have been awarded UK National Space Technology Programme funding to develop an innovative and stowage-efficient Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.

Effective today, Aireon, the first ever real-time, global air traffic surveillance system, is fully operational and in trial use over the North Atlantic.