Satellite News

Rocket: Electron; Payload: Sequoia; Date: 31 August 2020, 0305 UTC; Launch site: Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. Electron successfully deployed the single microsatellite to a circular orbit at approximately 500 km for Capella Space.

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: SAOCOM 1B, Tyvak-0172, GNOMES-1; Date: 30 August 2020, 2319 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. This mission marked SpaceX’s first launch to a polar orbit from the East Coast, and the first polar launch from Florida in decades.

The lightweight Vega launcher is a “go” for its flight from French Guiana on 2 September (UTC) to demonstrate Arianespace’s smallsat rideshare offering.

The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-44 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office was scrubbed on 29 Augustdue to an unexpected condition during terminal count at approximately three seconds before lift-off.

SpaceX said it stood down from the launch of Starlink satellites on 30 August due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Roskosmos Space Corporation have decided to postpone the launch of the second ExoMars mission to study the Red Planet to 2022.

Spaceflight announced it is providing mission management and rideshare integration services for four organisations on Arianespace’s first dedicated rideshare mission on its Vega launch vehicle.

Rocket Lab has signed a deal to launch a dedicated mission for Capella Space, an aerospace and information services company providing Earth observation data on demand.