Satellite News

Roskosmos denied reports that a Rokot/Briz-KM launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome on 15 January 2013 had partially failed.

On 29 March 2013, Canada’s first Earth Observation satellite, Radarsat-1, experienced a technical anomaly after surpassing its expected lifetime by 12 years. In the days since, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) assembled a joint CSA-industry team of engineers, who conducted an extensive investigation. Following numerous attempts to resolve the technical issue, the CSA, in consultation with its commercial distributor MDA Geospatial Services Inc. has concluded that Radarsat-1 is no longer operational after 17 years of service.

Following the unsuccessful launch of the SL-48 mission on 1 February 2013 (UTC), Sea Launch and Energia Logistics Ltd. (ELUS) formed a Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) to review the contractor findings and agree on root cause and appropriate corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

Canada’s first Earth Observation satellite, Radarsat-1, experienced a technical anomaly on 29 March 2013, the Canadian Space Agency announced.

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has returned to active status and is on track to resume science investigations, following two days in safe mode.

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity continues to move forward with assessment and recovery from a memory glitch that affected the rover’s A-side computer. Curiosity has two computers that are redundant of one another. The rover is currently operating using the B-side computer, which is operating as expected.

The crash of a Russian Zenit-3SL rocket on 1 February was caused by defective components manufactured in Ukraine, according to Ivan Kharchenko, first deputy head of the Russian government’s military-industrial commission.

NASA has released a summary report on findings from a panel that investigated the unsuccessful 2011 launch of the agency’s Glory spacecraft.