Satellite News

Russian state space corporation Roskosmos has started work on designing a new super-heavy class carrier rocket on the basis of the RD-171 liquid-fuel rocket engine, Russia’s S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia General Director Vladimir Solntsev was quoted as saying.

Arianespace’s fourth Ariane 5 flight of 2016 has been given the “green light” for lift-off on 24 August following a successful launch readiness review, which was conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

After delivering almost 2,250 kg of supplies, experiments and equipment – including a docking adapter for future U.S. commercial crew spacecraft – a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is set to leave the International Space Station on 26 August.

Rocket: Delta IV Medium+ (4,2); Payload: GSSAP-3, GSSAP-4; Date: 19 August 2016, 0452 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The two Orbital ATK-built satellites were successfully deployed following their launch.

Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully completed additional testing of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 development engine 0528, at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The Quantum Communication Satellite of China Academy of Science was successfully launched by a Chang Zheng 2D launch vehicle. In this mission, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) also launched a piggyback Spanish 6U Cubesat designed and manufactured by the NanoSat Lab at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, which was released from the launch vehicle 33 seconds after the main passenger separation.

NASA has selected the Ixion Initiative Team, comprised of NanoRacks, Space Systems Loral and United Launch Alliance to participate in the Agency’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (“NextSTEP-2”) programme. The Ixion Team will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study evaluating the conversion of rocket upper stages into habitats.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: Quantum Space Satellite (QSS) [Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS)] “Micius”; Date: 15 August 2016, 1740 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Space Center, China. The experimental satellite was deployed into a Sun-synchronous circular orbit with an altitude of 600 km.