Satellite News

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2F; Payload: reusable experimental spacecraft; Date: 4 September 2020, approx. 0730 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The spacecraft landed at 0200 UTC on 6 September after two days in a 331 km x 347 km x 50.2 degrees orbit.

The Progress Rocket and Space Center has repaired the Fregat upper stage that led to a postponement of a Meridian satellite launch from the Plesetsk spaceport in January.

Rocket: Vega; Payload: 53 satellites); Date: 3 September 2020, 0151 UTC;Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite passengers on the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept rideshare mission were released during a flight sequence lasting 1 hour, 44 minutes from lift-off to final separation, involving multiple deployments with the SSMS dispenser.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 60 Starlink satellites; Date: 3 September 2020, 1246 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The Falcon 9’s upper stage engine injected the 60 Starlink satellites into an on-target orbit inclined at 53 degrees.

Rocket Lab has launched its first in-house designed and built operational satellite. The satellite, named ‘First Light’, is the first spacecraft from Rocket Lab’s family of configurable Photon satellites to be deployed to orbit.

NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory, Utah, on 2 September.

The storm track of Typhoon Maysak over South Korea – which requires that the Jeju telemetry station be protected – has led to the postponement of final preparatory operations for Vega’s Flight VV16 launch, which was scheduled for 2 September (UTC).

Russia will launch six Gonets telecoms satellites in 2020 instead of three as was reported earlier, General Director of Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company, Nikolai Testoyedov was quoted as saying.