Satellite News

Viasat Inc. announced it selected SpaceX to launch one of its ViaSat-3 satellite missions.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have once again delayed the launch of the agency’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, to conduct further pre-launch testing on the Pegasus rocket. Upon completion of the testing, a new launch date will be established.

NASAA is optimistic that a backup gyroscope (gyro) can be used to operate the Hubble Space Telescope. The backup gyro was turned on after the spacecraft entered safe mode due to a failed gyro on 5 October but was incorrectly returning extremely high rotation rates. The rotation rates have since reduced and are now within an expected range. Additional tests will be performed to ensure Hubble can return to science operations with this gyro.

NOAA’s GOES-17 satellite is getting ready to move to its new location at 137.2 degrees west. For the past seven months, the satellite has been in a temporary position – at 89.5 degrees west – known as its on-orbit checkout location. Since then, scientists have been testing and calibrating GOES-17’s instruments.

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA; Payload: BepiColombo; Date: 20 October 2018, 0145:28 UTC; Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana. Signals from the spacecraft, received at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, via the New Norcia ground tracking station at 0221 UTC confirmed that the launch into its Earth escape trajectory was successful.

There’s been another delay in the launch of Canada’s three Earth-observation satellites known as the Radarsat Constellation.

Qualification tests on the Vinci engine which will power the Ariane 6 upper stage were completed with the 148th test, which took place on 12 October 12 on the PF52 test bench at ArianeGroup’s Vernon site.

The launches of the Russian Rokot-2 light carrier rockets May begin again in 2021 which would allow achieving annual incomes of over RUB8 billion (US$120 million) if the decision to resume the project is made this year.