Satellite News

Aeolus, the European Space Agency’s wind sensing satellite, is leaving Stevenage, UK, in the next few days on the first part of its journey to space. It will be shipped to Toulouse, France, for final testing before it travels to French Guiana towards the end of the year ready for launch on a Vega launcher.

Raytheon said it reached another milestone in developing the U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System Next-Generation Operational Control System, known as GPS OCX, with the completion of the Factory Qualification Test of the Launch and Checkout System (LCS).

UrtheCast Corp. has entered into a binding agreement with a confidential government customer for the sale and shared operation of the first two satellites in the OptiSAR Constellation, the world’s first commercial EO constellation with integrated optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, for US$180 million.

The recently launched Iridium NEXT satellites carry hosted payloads that will track planes and ships. Here are a few details.

Eutelsat Communications announced that its Eutelsat 117 West B satellite has entered into full commercial service and is now ready to support customers across Latin America.

Russia’s Defense Ministry continues to develop the Liana Electronic Intelligence Program (ELINT) using Lotos-S satellites, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. has acquired Ku-band payload on an SES communication satellite in a move to boost capacity for its customers in North America, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Bangabandhu programme has started the production phase with the integration of the communications module in Thales Alenia Space plant in Toulouse and the service module in Cannes, with the mating set for March 2017. At the same time, the ground team is kicking off factory acceptance tests and starting local work on the installation of ground antennas.