Satellite News

O3b Networks announced that its second group of four satellites have begun their journey from the Thales Alenia Space facility in Rome to Kourou in French Guiana. They are to be launched aboard a Soyuz rocket in June, which means that the launch of the first two Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites slips to August.

COM DEV International Ltd. announced that the Government of Canada has decided to not proceed with the planned Russian Soyuz launch of M3M, which was scheduled for June this year.

A project to build a new super-heavy carrier rocket was included into the draft new Russian Federal Space Programme, Roskosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko said.

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s fifth flight to service the International Space Station is now being assembled in French Guiana, preparing the launcher for its 2014 mission with another European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo resupply vessel.

The third Vega has completed its build-up at the spaceport in French Guiana, allowing final checkout to begin ahead of this lightweight launcher’s mission with the DZZ-HR Earth observation satellite scheduled for 28 April.

Rocket: Falcon 9 v1.1; Payload: Dragon; Date: 18 April 2014, 1925 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The launch of the third SpaceX commercial resupply services mission (CRS-3) sent the Dragon space freighter on a course to rendezvous with the station on Sunday, 20 April.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting a 1925 UTC launch on Friday, 18 April of SpaceX’s third cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

ATK has reached agreement on a US$178 million contract award as part of the Air Force’s Phase 1 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) buy from United Launch Alliance (ULA).