Satellite News

The GLONASS-M No. 51 navigation satellite , which was designed and built by Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev Company, has started operation in orbit.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed the completion of a sequence of important operations of the X-ray Astronomy Satellite “Hitomi” (ASTRO-H).

Orbcomm Inc. announced it has launched commercial service for its final 11 second generation OG2 satellites. Orbcomm’s advanced OG2 satellites are providing both M2M messaging and Automatic Identification System (AIS) service. Orbcomm successfully launched the 11 OG2 satellites on 21 December 2015, aboard a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

On 29 February, a test model of Orion’s solar array was unfolded at NASA’s Plum Brook Station test facility in Sandusky, Ohio to check everything works as expected. The solar panels were made by Airbus Defence and Space in the Netherlands for the ESA module that will supply power and life support for up to four astronauts.

Space Systems Loral announced it will design and build a robotic Sample Handling Assembly (SHA) for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) through MDA US Systems, a division of MDA, managed by SSL.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems was recently awarded a contract to provide multiple Passive Common Berthing Mechanisms (PCBM) by Special Aerospace Services (SAS) of Boulder, Colorado for Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft in support of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 1 and 2 (CRS1, CRS2) programmes.

China’s first micro-gravity experimental satellite is scheduled to be launched in April of this year. The Shijian-10 satellite has arrived at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gansu province on Wednesday, ahead of its scheduled launch in April.

Space Systems Loral (SSL) has received a contract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to conduct first phase design studies for a spacecraft that can travel to an asteroid, remove a boulder, and redirect it into a lunar orbit to prepare it for a visit by astronauts in the 2020’s.