Satellite News

Millennium Space Systems was selected to develop and manufacture two ALTAIR spacecraft for a NASA mission, which will measure the dynamics of the magnetic field surrounding the Earth. The company will also integrate, test and operate the full scientific observatories.

The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft sprang loose from its Prox-1 carrier vehicle as planned yesterday, and sent its first signals back to mission control at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California.

A research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced a constellation programme, planning to launch 72 small satellites for the Internet of Things in the next three years.

Eutelsat Communications has secured a multi-year contract with Global Technologies for C-band capacity on its Eutelsat 10A satellite to provide connectivity and communications for the West Africa Power Pool Project (WAPP).

Another Vega launch vehicle has completed its assembly process at the Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a major milestone as preparations continue for Arianespace’s sixth mission overall in 2019.

Exolaunch said it has completed a successful payload integration for an upcoming Soyuz launch from the Vostochny launch site. Lift off is currently schedules for 5 July, 0541 UTC. The rocket’s main payload is the Meteor M2-2 weather satellite.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by Space Norway to deliver its Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) system. Northrop Grumman will design, manufacture and integrate two satellites for highly elliptical orbit (HEO) in addition to providing critical ground infrastructure.

ThinKom Solutions has announced the completion of the first live test of a commercially available phased-array antenna with Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite.