Satellite News

Lockheed Martin shipped its third satellite based on the modernised LM 2100 bus to French Guiana for launch aboard an Ariane V rocket. JCSAT-17 will provide flexible mobile communications services to users in Japan and the surrounding region. Arianespace will launch JCSAT-17 from its spaceport in Kourou.

The Progress Space Rocket Center plans to launch two Aist-2T Earth’s remote-sensing satellites at the end of 2022, Progress CEO Dmitry BaraNovember was quoted as saying.

The Rosalind Franklin rover of the joint ESA-Roskosmos ExoMars mission completed a series of environmental tests at the end of 2019 at Airbus, Toulouse, France. This included final thermal and vacuum tests where the Rover is heated and cooled to simulate the temperatures of its journey through space and on the surface of Mars.

SpinLaunch, Inc. has received an additional investment of US$35 million for continued development of the world’s first kinetic launch system, designed to provide the lowest-cost, environmentally responsible orbital launch system.

Rocket: Chang Zheng-2D; Payload: Jilin-1KF01 (Red Flag-1 H9), NewSat-7, NewSat-8 (aka NuSat-8 and 8), Tianqi-2-03; Date: 15 November 2020, 0253 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellites were deployed into approx. 477 km x 491 km x 97,34 degrees Sun-synchronous orbit.

Arianespace has delivered another Ariane 5 to the launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, positioning the vehicle for lift-off on 16 January with two satellite passengers on board: Eutelsat KONNECT and GSAT-30.

Landsat 9’s two science instruments are now attached to the spacecraft, bringing the mission one step closer to launch. In late December, the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) were both mechanically integrated on to the spacecraft bus at Northrop Grumman in Gilbert, Arizona.

The GLONASS-M navigation satellite that was launched into orbit on 11 December 2019 has entered service.