Satellite News

Earlier this year, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) made an announcement to the private sector that it would compare proposals and select service providers capable of providing small satellite deployment services from Japan’s Kibo module on the International Space Station. After carefully evaluating the proposals, JAXA has selected Space BD Inc. and MITSUI & CO., LTD. as the service providers.

Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center has decided not to go ahead with its project to develop the Proton-L (Proton Medium) two-stage launch vehicle (LV), Interfax news agency reported citing a source at the centre. There was no immediate official confirmation, though.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that SpaceX successfully launched five Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Shortly after deployment, Iridium confirmed successful communication with all five new satellites, formally bringing the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit to 55.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: two GRACE Follow-On spacecraft, five Iridium NEXT satellites; Date: 22 May 2018, 1947 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base,USA. All satellites were successfully deployed into their respective target orbits.

Rocket: Antares; Payload: Cygnus “S.S. J.R. Thompson”; Date: 21 May 2018, 0844 UTC; Launch site: Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, USA. Following an approximate nine-minute ascent, the Cygnus vessel was successfully deployed into orbit.

Rocket: Chang Zheng-4C; Payload: Queqiao, Longjiang-1, Longjiang-2; Date: 20 May 2018, 2128 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. About 25 minutes after lift-off, the satellite separated from the rocket and entered an Earth-Moon transfer orbit with a perigee of 200 km and an apogee of about 400,000 km. Meanwhile, the solar panels and the communication antennas were unfolded.

The launch of a Soyuz MS spacecraft by a Soyuz-2.1a is planned for August 2019. The spacecraft will fly unmanned, which will make it possible to increase the payload by several times due to the lack of a part of the instruments and assemblies required to support crew activities. Currently, the unmanned version of the Soyuz MS is at the stage of compartments assembly.

China has launched a rocket developed by a Chinese private company from an undisclosed site in northwest China.