Satellite News

Rocket: Vega; Payload: 53 satellites); Date: 3 September 2020, 0151 UTC;Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite passengers on the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept rideshare mission were released during a flight sequence lasting 1 hour, 44 minutes from lift-off to final separation, involving multiple deployments with the SSMS dispenser.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 60 Starlink satellites; Date: 3 September 2020, 1246 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The Falcon 9’s upper stage engine injected the 60 Starlink satellites into an on-target orbit inclined at 53 degrees.

Rocket Lab has launched its first in-house designed and built operational satellite. The satellite, named ‘First Light’, is the first spacecraft from Rocket Lab’s family of configurable Photon satellites to be deployed to orbit.

NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory, Utah, on 2 September.

Satelit Nusantara Tiga (SNT) and Thales Alenia Space announced the signature of a Preliminary Work Agreement to start the activities of the broadband telecommunication satellite SATRIA.

Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace successfully completed a phased array transmit test for a Multi-Band, Multi-Mission (MBMM) antenna. MBMM helps enable multiple satellites to simultaneously connect with a single-phased array antenna system using multiple frequencies.

Rocket Lab now has a spacecraft in Earth orbit — the first of its Photon satellite line, which is designed to tote customer payloads to a variety of destinations, including the moon and Venus.

Scientists created maps and other data products to track the fires and smoke plumes and make predictions about which parts of California may be affected next.