Satellite News

Fuelling operations have begun with the four Galileo spacecraft to be orbited next month from French Guiana on Arianespace’s first launch that uses its Ariane 5 in deploying Europe’s constellation of navigation satellites.

Rocket: Soyuz-FG; Payload: Soyuz-MS 02; Date: 19 October 2016, 0805 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The crewed transportation spacecraft was successfully put into low Earth orbit and is headed for the International Space Station (ISS).

Rocket: Antares 230; Payload: OA-5 (Cygnus); Date: 17 October 2016, 2340 UTC; Launch site: Wallops Flight Facility, USA. The Antares medium-class rocket launched approximately 2,400 kilograms of cargo to the ISS. Following a nine-minute ascent, the spacecraft was successfully deployed into orbit.

Rocket: Antares 230; Payload: OA-5 (Cygnus); Date: 17 October 2016, 2340 UTC; Launch site: Wallops Flight Facility, USA. The Antares medium-class rocket launched approximately 2,400 kilograms of cargo to the ISS. Following a nine-minute ascent, the spacecraft was successfully deployed into orbit.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2F; Payload: Shenzhou-11; Date: 16 October 2016, 2330 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. Shenzhou-11 is carrying two astronauts who will remain in space for 33 days, the longest manned mission in the country’s space programme to date.

Vector Space Systems has finalised an agreement with York Space Systems, an aerospace company specialising in small and medium class spacecraft, to conduct six satellite launches from 2019 through 2022 with the option for 14 additional launches.

International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat have announced the signing of two Proton launch contracts for the 2018-2020 period.

In coordination with its NASA customer, Orbital ATK has rescheduled the launch of the OA-5 CRS mission for 15 October (UTC).