Satellite News

Orbital has rescheduled the launch of its Antares rocket for the Orb-2 mission to a date of no earlier than (NET) 17 June 2014.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announced that it has completed qualification testing for the SuperDraco thruster, an engine that will power the Dragon spacecraft’s launch escape system and enable the vehicle to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy.

The Ekspress-AM6 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by the ISS Reshetnev Company, was delivered to the Baikonur cosmodrome on 26 May 2014 to begin pre-launch preparations.

Sea Launch SA has successfully launched the Eutelsat 3B satellite from at its ocean-based Launch Platform Odyssey. This marks the completion of Sea Launch’s first mission in 2014, its third for Eutelsat and its 36th mission overall.

Rocket: H-IIA; Payload: ALOS-2 (Daichi-2); Date: 24 May 2014, 0305 UTC; Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 15 minutes and 47 seconds after lift-off, the separation of the DAICHI-2 was confirmed.

Rocket: Zenit 3SL/Block DM-SL; Payload: Eutelsat 3B; Date: 26 May 2014, 2110 UTC; Launch site: Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned on the equator at 154 degrees West longitude in the Pacific Ocean. The satellite was deployed into geostationary transfer orbit at 2212 UTC. Spacecraft acquisition was confirmed a few minutes later.

Optus Networks Pty. Ltd. has informed Arianespace that its Optus 10 satellite, one of the two payloads being carried by Arianespace flight VA218, previously scheduled for 6 June requires additional verifications.

Rocket: Rokot/Briz-KM; Payload: Kosmos 2496, Kosmos 2497, Kosmos 2498; Date: 23 May 2014, 0527 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. “The defence satellite cluster has successfully reached the final orbit,” Aerospace Defense Forces Col. Alexei Zolotukhin was quoted as saying.