Satellite News

NASA has selected a science mission planned for launch in 2024 that will sample, analyse, and map particles streaming to Earth from the edges of interstellar space.

Over the past week, two CubeSats called MarCO-A and MarCO-B have been firing their propulsion systems to guide themselves toward Mars. This process, called a trajectory correction manoeuvre, allows a spacecraft to refine its path to Mars following launch. Both CubeSats successfully completed this maneuver; NASA’s InSight spacecraft completed the same process on 22 May.

United Arab Emirates satellite operator Yahsat on Wednesday said its third satellite Al Yah-3 had completed its in-orbit testing and was ready to launch commercial services.

NOAA-20, the first satellite in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new Joint Polar Satellite System has passed rigorous testing and is now operational.

SES will provide a series of services for the Galileo European navigation system under a long-term agreement signed with Spaceopal, SES announced. The contract is part of the Galileo Service Operator (GSOp) framework agreement between Spaceopal – a joint venture between Telespazio and DLR GfR mbH – and the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GSA).

Orolia announced that its atomic clock solutions have been selected for the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) under contracts totalling EUR26 million.

The recently launched Chinese Queqiao relay satellite braked near the Moon as planned on 25 May, completing a vital step before entering a desired orbit, according to the China National Space Administration.

NASA has exercised options under the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III (Rapid III) contract for two additional Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) spacecraft to be built for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).