Satellite News

Moog Space and Defense Group and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) have agreed to partner with ECAPS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Swedish Space Corporation to make a new low-toxicity monopropellant propulsion technology available to the U.S. spacecraft market.

China will, under a recently signed agreement, help Laos develop a telecommunications satellite and a ground station, and train relevant staff, Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported.

Angola reportedly ordered a satellite from Russia. ANGOP news agency said that the government of Angola had formalised the project.

Thales Alenia Space and Inmarsat have signed an ATP (Authorisation To Proceed) for the development of the “EuropaSat” satellite. Launch aboard a Proton rocket is expected in early 2011 — if everything goes ahead as planned.

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it has been selected by Intelsat to design, build and deliver the Intelsat-18 (IS-18) commercial communications satellite.

Vietnam plans to launch its second satellite after the successful launch of Vinasat-1 earlier this year.

Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has received a subcontract from Orbital Sciences to deliver a wide-field-of-view sensor.

AsiaSat 5 recently successfully completed reference performance testing of the payload and bus subsystems. The spacecraft has been undergoing thermal vacuum testing for a month, and is in the process of completing the last thermal vacuum testing.