Satellite News

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. has signed a contract amendment with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further develop and test the Payload Orbital Delivery (POD) system as part of DARPA’s Phoenix programme. This project was originally announced in November 2013.

ESA confirmed that its Rosetta mission will be extended until the end of September 2016, at which point the spacecraft will most likely be landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Together with national space agencies and industry, ESA is working to develop next-generation software for spacecraft control and monitoring. The initiative is to see most space organisations in Europe adopting a common infrastructure, which will improve efficiency, lower technical risk and deliver a major boost to European industrial competitiveness.

Space Systems/Loral (SSL) was selected to provide a broadcasting satellite for Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT), Japan. The satellite will be used for Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service in Japan.

UrtheCast Corp. announced plans to build, launch and operate the world’s first fully-integrated, multispectral optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) commercial constellation of Earth Observation satellites, to be deployed over multiple launches expected in 2019 and 2020.

COM DEV International Ltd. has received a series of orders to supply multiplexers, switches and ancillary equipment for a commercial communications satellite.

The fifth Vega has completed its build-up at the Spaceport in French Guiana, allowing final checkout to begin ahead of the lightweight launch vehicle’s mission with Europe’s Sentinel-2A satellite.

NASA’s mission concept — to conduct a detailed survey of Jupiter’s moon Europa and investigate its habitability — has successfully completed its first major review by the agency and now is entering the development phase known as formulation.