Satellite News

Vinasat-1, the second of two commercial telecommunications satellite passengers for Arianespace’s next heavy-lift Ariane 5 flight, has finally arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Following an overnight recovery operation, Jules Verne ATV’s propulsion system has successfully been restored to full robustness. The spacecraft has since performed the first orbital manoeuvres necessary to set up phasing with the International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin has submitted its proposal to NASA to design and build the spacecraft for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – Series R (GOES-R), the next generation geostationary environmental satellites for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

SES Americom’s AMC-14 satellite is to be launched on 14 March, 2318 UTC aboard an International Launch Services Proton-M/Briz-M lifting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

ESA officials said that the anomaly in one of the four propulsion chains aboard the recently launched Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne isn’t “anything serious.” Apart from that problem, the spacecraft is healthy.

SpaceDev, Inc. announced that it was awarded a design and development subcontract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, for development of cost effective deployable reflectors for satellites.

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and European Commission Director General for Enterprise & Industry Heinz Zourek have signed an agreement which establishes the allocation of an EC budget of EUR624 million (US$957 million) to ESA as a contribution to the implementation of the GMES Space Component (GSC).

COM DEV International Ltd. said it has successfully completed the airborne validation trials of its advanced Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver solution.