Satellite News

The China Academy of Space Technology has announced plans to launch the world’s first X-ray pulsar navigation satellite (XPNAV-1) in November, Xinhua reported. The move brings autonomous spacecraft navigation and a more precise deep-space GPS one step closer to reality.

Raytheon said it has reached another milestone in its development of the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System, known as GPS OCX.

The commands that will govern the Schiaparelli lander’s descent and touchdown on Mars were uploaded to ESA’s ExoMars spacecraft, enroute to the Red Planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter has been carrying the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator since launch on 14 March. Upon arrival on 19 October, Schiaparelli will test the technology needed for Europe’s 2020 rover to land, while its parent craft brakes into an elliptical orbit around Mars.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. announced that the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) has exercised an option for a contract announced in June 2016.

Both satellites launched aboard an Ariane 5 on 5 October are healthy and have begun post-launch manoeuvres.

On 2 October 2016 at approximately 1300 UTC, Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite experienced a technical anomaly that resulted in loss of satellite services to its customers. Customer services on Anik F2 were restored the following day.

ESA’s Rosetta mission has concluded as planned, with the controlled impact onto the comet it had been investigating for more than two years. Confirmation of the end of the mission arrived at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany at 11:19 UTC with the loss of Rosetta’s signal upon impact.

Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 flight has been authorised for lift-off on 4 October following a launch readiness review, which was conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.