Satellite News

Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo-Finmeccanica (33%), was horned by the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation with the Stellar Award, for having helped in designing and developing a rapid and innovative solution for reinstatement of the resupply flights to the International Space Station following the mishap of the Antares rocket in October 2014.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has been recognised as part of the New Horizons spacecraft Pluto mission team by the National Space Club and Foundation, which named the team a winner of the 2016 Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy.

The Herschel and Planck project teams are this year’s recipients of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space Systems Award. Both space missions were led by the European Space Agency (ESA), with important participation from NASA.

At the 29th annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)/Utah State University (USU) Conference on Small Satellites, The Planetary Society’s citizen-funded LightSail spacecraft test mission (LightSail-A) was named Mission of the Year by the AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee. Eleven standout small satellite projects from around the world were nominated by a committee of experts.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 for its contribution to the country’s development through space technology and satellite-based services. The award, comprising INR10 million (US$160,000) and a citation, was decided after the jury for the prize met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Moon Express, Inc. (MoonEx) has been awarded US$1 million by Google Lunar XPRIZE for its recent lander test flights, taking home the only Lander System milestone prize awarded for a full lander system demonstration. The tests were conducted at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, utilising a test range located at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility.