Satellite News

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA; Payload: Sky Brasil-1, Telkom 3S; Date: 14 February 2017, 2139 UTC; Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana. For its first launch of the year, Ariane 5 successfully completed its mission from the European space port of Kourou (French Guiana) for the 77th consecutive time.

Brazil’s SGDC geostationary defence and secure communications satellite and South Korea’s Koreasat 7 telecommunications satellite, both built by Thales Alenia Space, have just arrived at the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, where they will be lofted in a dual launch on 21 March by Ariane 5.

China plans to launch its first cargo spacecraft in April, state media reported. The Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft will be carried into space by a Chang Zheng-7 Y2 rocket launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

JAXA said it will revise its planned low-cost satellite launch vehicle and mount a second attempt as early as this year.

The two telecommunications satellites for Arianespace’s next heavy-lift Ariane 5 launch – Sky Brasil-1 and Telkom 3S – have been fuelled in preparation for lift-off next week from French Guiana.

The first commercial launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket after engine checks is now scheduled to take place in April, the head of Russian space corporation Roskosmos Igor Komarov said.

The dual use (civil and military) SGDC Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite built by Thales Alenia Space for Brazil is ready to be shipped the Kourou launch pad in French Guyana to be launched by Ariane 5 rocket next March.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that it has contracted with SpaceX for an eighth Falcon 9 launch. Along for the ride are the twin-satellites of the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission, which will be deployed into a separate low-Earth orbit, marking the first rideshare deal for Iridium.