Satellite News

The University of California, Berkeley, said its scientists in effect “switched off” the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer satellite (CHIPSat) last month, ending the mission of NASA’s first and only low-cost, university-class Explorer spacecraft.
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An amended federal GLONASS programme will be approved this year, Yury Urlichich, the general designer of the navigation system, was quoted as saying. However, the completion of the system appears to have slipped back another year.
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Aerojet said it successfully completed 250 hot-fire test sequences of its R-4D 445-N (100-lbf) thrust bipropellant engine. The test included over 20,000 starts under a broad variety of conditions expected for NASA’s Orion Service Module.
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NASA has selected six candidate mission proposals for further evaluation as part of the agency’s Small Explorer (SMEX) Program. The proposals will study the far reaches of the universe, including the Earth’s thermosphere and ionosphere, the Sun, black holes, the first stars, and Earthlike planets around nearby stars.
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Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) said it has secured a contract worth EUR1.6 million (US$2.5 million) from Astrium GmbH, Germany, to proceed with work on a new contract to develop and supply the Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EarthCARE Mission.
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SpaceDev, Inc. has been informed by the U.S. Department of Defense Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) that it has selected SpaceDev’s Trailblazer spacecraft bus as the primary payload to fly on its inaugural mission, called Jumpstart.
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Bigelow Aerospace, LLC said it has reached agreement with Aerojet to supply the propulsion system for the aft end of Sundancer, which according to Bigelow’s plans is to become the first commercial space habitat capable of supporting a human crew.
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Boeing announced that it submitted a bid to the U.S. Air Force earlier this month for the Self-Awareness Space Situational Awareness (SASSA) programme.
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