Satellite News

Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: Radarsat Constellation Mission [RCM]; Date: 12 June 2019, 1417 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The three Radarsat satellites deployed approximately 54 minutes after launch.

Russia’s State Space Corporation Roskosmos has placed an order to the tune of RUB2 billion (US$31 million) for the manufacture of a light Angara-1.2 carrier rocket for the launch of Gonets-M satellites, according to the information posted on the government’s procurement website.

A consortium of companies in Poland will investigate new fuel injector designs to improve variable thrust in rocket engines using storable ‘green’ propellants.

Specialists of the Roskosmos enterprises completed the general assembly of a Proton-M integrated launch vehicle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Europe’s Ariane 6 launch vehicle is set to debut with a commercial mission in 2020 – industry is carrying out the final tests and starting production. The Ariane 6 launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is near completion.

The U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-5) communication satellite was encapsulated on 5 June at Astrotech Space Operations processing facility in Florida.

More than 40 satellite missions will be launched at once by Europe’s Vega launcher this autumn, thanks to a modular “Lego-style” dispenser resting on its upper stage.

Virgin Orbit announced that it has signed an agreement with ANA Holdings, parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA), to bring the company’s LauncherOne service to Japan.