Satellite News

Payload build-up is underway in French Guiana for Arianespace’s medium-lift Soyuz mission this week, which is to orbit the SES-15 telecommunications satellite.

Aerojet Rocketdyne said it successfully completed its test campaign of a fuel boost kick pump at its Sacramento, California, facility as part of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Hydrocarbon Boost Technology Demonstrator (HBTD) programme.

JAXA is developing the main engine for its next-generation H-III rocket, which could see service in fiscal 2020. This marks the first time in about 20 years that Japan has been developing main rocket engines.

Payload preparations are advancing for Arianespace’s upcoming launch: a Soyuz mission to orbit the SES-15 telecommunications spacecraft from the Spaceport in French Guiana next week.

Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) for AR1, a 2.22 MN (500,000 lbf) thrust-class, liquid-fuelled rocket engine.

A Chang Zheng-5 has arrived in Wenchang in south China’s Hainan Province for the launch of the Shijian-18 communication satellite, scheduled for June, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4), the U.S. Air Force’s unmanned, reusable space plane, landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on 7 May 2017.

Rocket: GSLV-F09; Payload: GSAT-9 [South Asia Satellite]; Date: 5 May 2017, 1127 UTC; Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. The satellite was successfully deployed into a 169 km x 36,105 km x 20.65 degrees Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.