Satellite News

Spaceflight Inc. has signed the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to a launch services agreement for the Eu:CROPIS mission. The Eu:CROPIS spacecraft is scheduled for a rideshare launch on a Spaceflight SHERPA vehicle in 2017.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) recently completed a Critical Design Review (CDR) of the launch site accommodations that will support commercial crew launches of Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) in Florida.

Rocket: Delta II 7320; Payload: OCO-2; Date: 2 July 2014, 0956 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The satellite was successfully deployed into its targeted 690-kilometer altitude orbit approximately 56 minutes after launch.

Boeing has finalised a contract with NASA to develop the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS). The US$2.8 billion contract validates Boeing’s earlier selection as the prime contractor on the SLS core stage, including the avionics, under an undefinitised contract authorisation.

Inmarsat plc has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its S-band satellite and up to two further Inmarsat missions.

The next satellite cluster for O3b Networks’ high-speed connectivity system has been mated to its Fregat upper stage in French Guiana, marking one of the final steps in Arianespace’s Soyuz launch campaign for a lift-off next week.

The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta II carrying NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite was scrubbed today due to an issue with the water suppression system that is used to flow water on the launch pad to dampen the acoustic energy during launch.

A defect in the drainage valve of the liquid oxygen tank detected during pre-launch tests led to cancellation of the first test launch of the light-class Angara carrier rocket 19 seconds prior to engine ignition.