Satellite News

The first nozzle of the P120 solid rocket motor common to the future European launchers has just left for the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou (French Guiana). It will be fitted to the body of the booster intended for the first firing test on the solid rocket booster test stand (BEAP).

US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab confirmed it will open a 14-day launch window this month to conduct the company’s first fully commercial launch.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Dragon/CRS-14; Date: 3 April 2018, 1230 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. SpaceX did not attempt to recover Falcon 9’s first stage after launch.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 left Thales Alenia Space’s Cannes plant on 28 March and has arrived at Cape Canaveral on 30 March.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 10 Iridium NEXT satellites; Date: 30 March 2018, 1413 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. All 10 new satellites have successfully communicated with the Iridium Satellite Network Operations Center and are preparing to begin testing.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4C; Payload: Gaofen-1 02, Gaofen-1 03 and Gaofen-1 04; Date: 1 April 2018, 0322 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellites Launch Center, China. The satellites were put into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 645 kilometres.;

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is undergoing final preparations in Florida for its launch on 16 April.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope currently is undergoing final integration and test phases that will require more time to ensure a successful mission. After an independent assessment of remaining tasks for the highly complex space observatory, Webb’s previously revised 2019 launch window now is targeted for approximately May 2020.