Satellite News

Rocket Lab unveiled plans to support extended range missions to medium, geostationary, and lunar orbits with the company’s Photon satellite platform.

At Northrop Grumman Corporation in Redondo Beach, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope successfully validated its ability to perform key deployments for the first time since its post environmental testing of the Spacecraft Element (SCE) and integration of the SCE and Optical Telescope Element/Integrated Science Instrument Module (OTIS).

The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), developed by prime contractor Lockheed Martin with ground systems provider General Dynamics Mission Systems, was deemed operationally effective, operationally suitable, and cyber survivable, following successful completion of its Multiservice Operational Test and Evaluation (MOT&E).

Rocket: Electron/Curie; Payload: Palisade; Date: 17 October 2019, 0122 UTC; Launch site: Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The satellites was placed into a circular 1,200 km x 87.9 degrees orbit around 71 minutes after lift-off.

NASA and Boeing have initiated a contract for the production of 10 Space Launch System core stages and up to eight Exploration Upper Stages to support the third through the twelfth Artemis missions. Up to 10 additional core stages may be ordered under the contract.

Originally slated for a two-year mission, the second of the twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft will be retired just prior to running out of propellant, more than seven years after launch.

Thales Alenia Space has started construction of a new clean room. The construction works will span for a little less than a year. Once finished, the company will have the capacity to pursue high complexity activities such as the integration of the telecommunication payloads for Spain’s next generation governmental satellites Spainsat NG and other large systems in the field of Earth observation and science instruments.

Rocket Lab is currently targeting no earlier than 17 October 2019, 0000 UTC for the launch of Rocket Lab’s 9th mission, ‘As The Crow Flies.’