Satellite News

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. is being awarded a contract to build the third SBIRS-GEO satellite, the U.S. Air Force announced Friday.

ESA’s next Earth Explorer, SMOS, has recently passed the all-important Flight Acceptance Review, signifying that all the elements that make up the mission are in place for launch later this year. The satellite can now be prepared for its journey to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, from where it is to lift off aboard a Rokot launcher.
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The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that Harris Corporation – Government Communications Systems Division has been selected to develop the GOES-R ground system.
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Magellan Aerospace Corporation announced the award to its division, Bristol Aerospace, of the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) satellite bus development contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA).
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ESA’s gravity mission GOCE has achieved a first in the history of satellite technology, the agency said. The satellite’s electric propulsion system has shown that it is able to keep the satellite completely free from drag as it cuts through the remnants of Earth’s atmosphere.

AdaCore, provider of Ada tools and support, announced that Astrium UK has selected the Ada programming language and AdaCore’s GNAT Pro development environment for use on the new Sentinel-1 environmental monitoring satellite.

The STS-125 crew completed the fifth and final spacewalk on the Hubble Space Telescope Monday at 1922 UTC. Mission specialists John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel began the spacewalk at 1220 UTC.

Node 3 has left the Turin plant of Thales Alenia Space, heading towards NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, from where it will be launched towards the International Space Station.