Satellite News

China’s Chang’e-5 probe is preparing for a soft landing on the moon to undertake the country’s first collection of samples from an extraterrestrial body.

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) has passed technical verification on its key performance indicators for applications in the civil aviation sector, according to civil aviation authorities.

With the upcoming launch of ocean monitoring satellite Sentinel-6, two new Precise Orbit Determination Receivers (PODRIX) from RUAG Space will make their maiden flight.

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has been awarded a contract by GHGSat of Montreal to build the next three microsatellites in its commercial greenhouse gas monitoring constellation.

A batch of 10 satellites is to be developed following the signing of a three-year Partnership Project between small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space UK and ESA, with co-funding from the UK Space Agency.

The Eutelsat KONNECT telecommunication satellite is now operational in orbit. Built by Thales Alenia Space and launched by Arianespace on 17 January, this high throughput satellite reached its geostationary orbit on 22 July, seven months after lift-off. The satellite then underwent a battery of tests in orbit, to be now fully operational.

OHB Italia, a subsidiary of space and technology group OHB SE, signed a contract appointing OHB Italia as one of the two prime contractors performing a study of the Comet Interceptor mission, a new fast-class, deep space mission led by the European Space Agency.

ESA has signed contracts with Thales Alenia Space in France and in Italy, and Airbus in Spain to build three of the new high-priority Copernicus satellite missions: CHIME, CIMR and LSTM, respectively.