Satellite News

Rocket Lab said its first Electron rocket reached space on its first test flight but die not achieve orbit. It was launched from the remote Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island at 0420 UTC on 25 May.

Europasat, the “Inmarsat S-band/Hellas Sat 3” telecommunication satellite, has been shipped to the Kourou launch pad in French Guyana to be launched by an Ariane 5 rocket in June. This condominium satellite for Inmarsat and Hellas Sat will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS).

Boeing and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are collaborating to design, build and test a technology demonstration vehicle for the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) programme.

Rocket: Soyuz; Payload: SES-15; Date: 18 May 2017, 1154 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. The satellite was placed into a 2,207 km x 31,348.9 km x 5.99 degrees orbit as planned.

Spaceflight announced the purchase of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket to increase the frequency of its dedicated rideshare missions.

Spaceflight announced the purchase of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket to increase the frequency of its dedicated rideshare missions.

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed a series of hot-fire tests on a 133.5 kN (30,000 lbf) thrust-class Bantam liquid-fuelled rocket engine built with additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Inmarsat5-F4; Date: 15 May 2017, 2321 UTC; Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, USA.