Satellite News

Rocket: H-IIA; Payload: IGS radar spare; Date: 1 February 2015, 0121 UTC; Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The satellite was put into orbit after being separated from the rocket and was confirmed to be functioning properly, according to Mitsubishi Heavy and JAXA.

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Inmarsat 5-F2; Date: 1 February 2015, 2137 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Separation of the satellite is scheduled for 0402 UTC on 2 February (too late for this issue).

The launch of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, which will produce the highest-resolution maps of soil moisture ever obtained from space, has been delayed to a targeted launch date of 31 January pending completion of minor repairs to the United Launch Alliance Delta II launch vehicle.

Preparations are moving forward for next month’s Vega flight from Kourou, with its Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) passenger now integrated in the lightweight launcher’s payload fairing.

NASA’s SMAP launch was scrubbed today due to a violation of upper level wind constraints. Launch managers have initiated a 24-hour recycle and rescheduled lift-off of the United Launch Alliance Delta II/SMAP mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have rescheduled the postponed launch of an H-2A rocket carrying a backup information-gathering radar satellite.

The U.S. Air Force awarded a US$383 million contract for more launch services to United Launch Alliance, bringing the total value of the contract to $4.08 billion.

Europe will resume satellite launches for its Galileo navigation system in March, hoping to boost by at least six the number of orbiters this year, Arianespace and the European Commission said.