Satellite News

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Dragon/Ax-1; Date: 8 April 2022, 0717 UTC; Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, USA. The first all-private team of astronauts sent to the International Space Station arrived safely on Saturday to begin a week-long mission.

Orbit Fab and Neutron Star Systems (NSS) established a co-operative agreement for co-development of satellite refuelling solutions with green propellants. The agreement lays the foundation to increase the range of refuellable propellants by combining NSS propellant-agnostic electric propulsion technology with Orbit Fab’s refuelling interfaces and tankers.

L3Harris Technologies has been awarded a contract by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) for an advanced study which will significantly improve the accuracy and timing of Japan’s weather forecasting.

Lynk Global, Inc. announced the successful launch, deployment, and initial on-orbit check-out of Lynk Tower 1. The spacecraft is the company’s sixth ‘cell-tower-in-space’ satellite and is now in position to become the world’s first commercial cell-tower-in-space, the company said.

Small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, announced the successful launch of GNOMES-3, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-4 mission on 1 April.

The Satellite Applications Catapult and Virgin Orbit have announced an agreement to launch the latest satellite in the Catapult’s In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme into space from the United Kingdom later this year.

The European Space Agency (ESA), on behalf of the European Commission, and Arianespace have signed a launch contract for the third radar satellite in the Sentinel-1 mission, Sentinel-1C.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4C; Payload: Gaofen-3 03; Date: 6 April 2022, 2347 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellite was deployed into a 738 km × 745 km × 98.40 degrees Sun-synchronous orbit.