Satellite News

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B; Payload: Gaofen 13; Date: 11 October 2020, 1657 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The spacecraft entered its predetermined geostationary transfer orbit and deployed its solar arrays.

Russia’s Soyuz-2.1a rocket and Soyuz MS-17 crewed spacecraft have been rolled out to their Baikonur launch pad ahead of a flight to the International Space Station (ISS), Roskosmos said.

Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station is now targeted for no sooner than early-to-mid November, providing additional time for SpaceX to complete hardware testing and data reviews as the company evaluates off-nominal behaviour of Falcon 9 first stage engine gas generators observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch attempt.

The launch of Russia’s next-generation GLONASS-K navigation satellite, which has been postponed several times, is now scheduled for late October, Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems said.

A ‘self-eating’ rocket engine which aims to put small payloads into orbit by burning its own structure as propellant has won financial support from the UK Government.

Two microsatellites have failed to separate from their dispenser during the launch of a Vega rocket (Flight VV16), a source was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1 successfully conducted a deep-space manoeuvre on Friday, according to the China National Space Administration.

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has announced the launch of the Kepler-4 and Kepler-5 CubeSats.