Satellite News

Alliant Techsystems announced that it has delivered the U.S. Department of Defense’s Tactical Satellite 3 Spacecraft Bus (TacSat-3) to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for final integration and test.

The U.S. Air Force completed a four-phase transition of the Global Positioning System ground segment to the new Architecture Evolution Plan on 14 September.

Lockheed Martin announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Development and Test Wing (SDTW) to provide the enterprise management framework, mission management, and infrastructure for current and future missions of the Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center (MMSOC).

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a US$115 million contract award with Riverside Technology, Inc. to provide technical support, systems engineering and engineering services for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Services.

The DirecTV 10 satellite, launched on 6 July 2007, has been successfully placed in geo-synchronous orbit and is currently undergoing in-orbit testing.

Japan’s recently launched moon probe Kaguya (SELENE) continues to be in good health.

The Emirates Institute for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) announced that it will launch the United Arab Emirates’ first satellite, the Earth observation spacecraft DubaiSat-1, in 2008 — with a little help from South Korea and Russia.

The Russian Progress M-60 cargo spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on 19 September and spend five days in independent flight before leaving orbit and re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.