Satellite News

The largest parachute set to fly on Mars has completed its first successful high-altitude drop test, a critical milestone for ensuring the ExoMars mission is on track for launch in 2022. Both the first and second stage parachutes have now successfully flown this year.

MDA Ltd. announced that its next generation commercial Earth observation (EO) mission will be named CHORUS. The company also announced that CHORUS will initially include C-band and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites.

Astranis announced the successful completion of thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing for its first commercial MicroGEO satellite which is set to launch into orbit over Alaska in spring of next year. The satellite is earmarked for Pacific Dataport Inc. (PDI), a satellite middle mile provider headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.

OneSat, the latest type of telecommunication satellite that can respond from space to changing demands on Earth, is about to start assembly of its electronic components.

On 11 December, the James Webb Space Telescope was placed on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 22 December.

Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems has taken over control of the Ekspress-AMU3 and Ekspress-AMU7 telecom satellites that were launched from Baikonur the day before.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B; Payload: Tianlian 2-02; Date: 13 December 2021, 1609 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellite was deployed into a 182 km x 35,824 km x 27.06 degrees geostationary transfer orbit.

Viasat Inc. announced it is joining the Paris Peace Forum’s ‘Net Zero Space’ Initiative in tackling the growing space debris crisis in the shared orbits closest to Earth.

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