Satellite News

U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center and 460th Space Wing announced the successful completion of the Space-Based Infrared Systems Block 10 ground system’s Integrated Test and Evaluation (IT&E) phase and entry into Operational Utility Evaluation (OUE), the dedicated operational testing phase of the programme.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it has started constructing a facility that will double the satellite-component production capacity of its Kamakura Works, Sagami Factory in Sagamihara, Japan.

The UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the University of Leicester have published a paper that reveals a spacecraft’s position in space in the direction of a particular pulsar can be calculated autonomously, using a small X-ray telescope on board the craft, to an accuracy of 2 km.

ECAPS, an SSC Group company, announced that the High Performance Green Propulsion (HPGP) system included on the Terra Bella SkySat-3 satellite has been successfully commissioned on-orbit and declared fully operational.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has been awarded a contract from Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) to supply the electrical power system for the Dream Chaser, a commercial spacecraft that will carry cargo to and from the International Space Station.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) was selected to provide two high power satellites to SiriusXM, the world’s largest radio company measured by revenue.

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter made its first critical manoeuvre since its launch on 14 March yesterday, firing its engine for 52 minutes to help it intercept Mars on 19 October.

On 27 July 2016 at 0900 UTC, the Electrical Support System Processor Unit (ESS) on Rosetta will be switched off. The ESS is the interface used for communications between Rosetta and the lander, Philae, which has remained silent since 9 July 2015.