Satellite News

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s fourth flight of 2017 is now in the launch zone, poised for a dual-payload mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana on 4 May to orbit telecommunications relay platforms for Brazil and South Korea.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: NROL-76; Date: 1 May 2017, 1115 UTC; Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, USA. The rocket appears to have placed the secret payload into a low Earth orbit.

The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) released a final request for proposal for the Long Duration Propulsive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapters, or LDPE.

Orbital ATK announced that it has completed another milestone in the development of the Attitude Control Motor (ACM) for NASA’s Orion spacecraft Launch Abort System (LAS).

The Spaceport in French Guiana has resumed its pace for Arianespace’s busy 2017 mission manifest, with operations recommencing for the three subsequent launches – using two Ariane 5s and one Soyuz.

The Kourou spaceport in French Guiana can resume its operations after French and French Guianese officials signed an “Accord de Guyane” agreement, thus likely ending the social unrest that has disrupted public life and delayed rocket launches.

The Kourou spaceport in French Guiana can resume its operations after French and French Guianese officials signed an “Accord de Guyane” agreement, thus likely ending the social unrest that has disrupted public life and delayed rocket launches.

Airbus Safran Launchers said the company and its industrial partners have passed a major milestone in the development of Ariane 6, under contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).