Satellite News

Boeing and Lockheed Martin have submitted their competing bids to the U.S. Air Force for the development and production of up to 12 Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellites.

Diagnostic tests and months of stable, successful operation have resolved concerns raised early this year about long-term prospects for the powerful telescopic camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

After a four-day road trip from Turin, Italy, ESA’s GOCE satellite has arrived safely at the Agency’s test facilities in the Netherlands. With lift-off scheduled for early 2008, the spacecraft is now being prepared for an intensive testing programme.

OHB-System AG recently dispatched the third SAR-Lupe satellite to the IABG satellite testing centre.

SpaceDev has been awarded a contract to develop a prototype lunar lander vehicle for the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA).

JAXA’s troubled Hayabusa asteroid sample return probe now has three of its four ion engines operational again, increasing its chances to complete its journey back to Earth.

An unarmed missile was launched today, 0531 UTC, from Vandenberg Air Force Base so researchers could study its exhaust plume in flight using the recently launched Near Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE) satellite. The modified Minuteman 2 was launched from an underground silo.

New Zealand’s military, expected to be an important user of NZLSAT, has reportedly lost interest in the planned satellite and refused to sign a contract for the use of capacity.