Satellite News

Payload preparations have begun for Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission in support of Europe’s Galileo global navigation system, with two of the four satellites for launch on this July 2018 flight now undergoing their checkout.

The launch of two GRACE-Follow On Earth science satellites and five Iridium NEXT spacecraft has been delayed three days to 22 May.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Bangabandhu Satellite-1; Date: 11 May 2018, 2014 UTC; Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, USA. The spacecraft was deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit approximately 33 minutes after lift-off.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced Aerojet Rocketdyne as a strategic partner for the RL10 upper stage engine for ULA’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket following a competitive procurement process.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4C; Payload: Gaofen-5; Date: 8 May 2018, 1828 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The launch vehicle inserted the hyperspectral imaging satellite into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 705 kilometers.

SpaceX will reportedly be trying to launch Bangabandhu Satellite-1 for Bangladesh aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket on 10 May from Kennedy Space Center.

Rocket: Atlas V 401/Centaur; Payload: Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight), plus two Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats; Date: 5 May 2018, 1305 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. Riding the Centaur second stage of the rocket, the spacecraft reached orbit 13 minutes and 16 seconds after launch. Seventy-nine minutes later, the Centaur ignited a second time, sending InSight on a trajectory towards Mars. InSight separated from the Centaur about 9 minutes later – 93 minutes after launch – and contacted the spacecraft via NASA’s Deep Space Network at 1441 UTC.

Arianespace and D-Orbit announced the signature of an agreement to offer InOrbit NOW launch and deployment service through the launch of D-Orbit’s ION CubeSat Carrier on the Vega launch vehicle, as part of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof Of Concept flight (POC flight).