Satellite News

Exolaunch has signed a long-term launch agreement with SpaceX to secure Falcon 9 capacity for launching small satellites as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program. Under the agreement, Exolaunch manifests multiple microsatellites and cubesats on Falcon 9 rideshare missions to a Sun-synchronous orbit throughout 2020 – 2021.

Spaceflight Inc. announced it signed a Multiple Launch Services Agreement (MLSA) with HawkEye 360. Under the agreement, Spaceflight will provide capacity, engineering, and mission management services to launch HawkEye 360’s Cluster 4, 5, and 6 of its radio frequency mapping satellites.

Italian in-orbit transportation company D-Orbit has announced a launch service agreement with Swedish-British small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space. The contract covers launch and deployment of two Eutelsat LEO for Objects (ELO) 6U CubeSats in 2021 developed and built by AAC Clyde Space.

The P120C motor was successfully tested for the third time on 7 October at Europe’s Spaceport solid rocket motor test bench operated by the French Space Agency (CNES). This third successful test, carried out in the Ariane 6 configuration, paves the way for final qualification by the European Space Agency (ESA). The first and second tests on 16 July 2018, and 28 January 2019 were also successful.

Ball Aerospace has shipped the Ozone Mapping Profile Suite (OMPS) instrument for integration onto NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) weather satellite.

Boeing and the U.S. Space Force successfully completed the first major engineering design review for the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11+ military communications satellite. Production will begin next year at Boeing’s El Segundo factory, with delivery scheduled for 2024.

Airbus has joined forces with Earthcube, a French company specialising in the analysis of geospatial data using Artificial Intelligence (AI), to develop and market “Defence Site Monitoring,” an online solution for strategic site monitoring dedicated to defence actors, combining advanced satellite imagery and AI.

AeroVironment, Inc. announced the Sunglider solar-powered high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) achieved key test milestones, including reaching an altitude of more than 60,000 feet above sea level and successfully demonstrating mobile broadband communication.