Satellite News

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has completed the exploration phase of its mission on 16 September.

Astrium, said it has won a new competitive contract from the European Space Agency (ESA), as a follow-up to the Next Exploration Science and Technology (NEXT) study to develop a Lunar Lander.

Boeing announced that NASA has awarded the company an extension to the International Space Station (ISS) contract for sustaining engineering. The extension is valued at US$1.24 billion over a five-year period.

Russia plans to rebuild its network of weather satellites by 2030, the government said in a statement.

A Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demonstration programme satellite showed an increased set of capabilities when it detected and tracked a resident space object — another satellite — recently. The missile defence satellite is one of two STSS spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon Company.

An official ceremony marking the conversion of the Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo into a Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and its transfer of ownership from Italian space agency ASI to American counterpart NASA, was held last week at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Integral Systems, Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, SAT Corporation, has been chosen by Hispasat, S.A. to upgrade its existing Monics Carrier Monitoring System at their ground stations in Spain and Argentina.

Astrium Services has signed a ten-year partnership with the Russian research and development centre ScanEx for the reception and distribution rights on the upcoming SPOT 6 and 7 satellites.