Satellite News

A solar panel on the Russian satellite Resurs P3 has unfolded only partially after the spacecraft reached its orbit but its systems are receiving sufficient power supply, State Space Corporation Roskosmos said.

North Korea’s Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite has apparently been stabilised and is no longer tumbling.

NASA’s Game Changing Development (GCD) programme has selected four proposals to develop solar array technologies that will aid spacecraft in exploring destinations well beyond low-Earth orbit.

SES S.A. announced the signature of contracts for the next phase of the development of a new-generation satellite programme which was launched in 2013. Under the Electra programme name, OHB will be developing a fully electric satellite platform to reduce mass and launch costs.

Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a EUR145 million contract by the procurement agency of German Armed Forces (BAAINBw) for the long term operation of the SATCOMBw secure satellite communications system.

NASA has selected two proposals for new Earth science investigations that will put new instruments in low-Earth orbit to track harmful particulate air pollutants and study the development of tropical cyclones.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by NASA to deliver a concept study for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Wide Field Instrument (WFI), the agency’s next major astrophysics project to follow the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to study the deep interior of Mars is targeting a new launch window that begins 5 May 2018, with a Mars landing scheduled for 26 November 2018.