Satellite News

China is expected to launch two Beidou navigation satellites early next year as part of a plan to build a global navigation positioning network, China Daily reports citing “aerospace insiders.”

Integral Systems, Inc. has been awarded a contract by AsiaSat to add operations of the AsiaSat 5 satellite (a Loral FS1300 class satellite) to AsiaSat’s existing satellite control system.

ESA’s Science Programme Committee (SPC) has approved a 9 months extension of ESA involvement in the Double Star Programme (DSP) operations from 1 January 2007 to 30 September 2007. The Double Star mission is the first mission conducted in collaboration between ESA and the Chinese National Space Administration.

Russia will lift all precision restrictions for the civilian signal of the Glonass navigation system on 1 January 2007, the country’s defence minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Better ways of tracking satellites and other space objects could come into force following the completion of a successful trial of a new space surveillance system in Cyprus, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) said.

NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) has entered safe mode after problems with a solar panel motor. Communication with the spacecraft has been intermittent over the past days.

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has delivered WildBlue-1 to the Arianespace spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where it is scheduled for launch aboard an Ariane 5 ECA in early December, along with SES Americom’s AMC 18.

Boeing has received a US$299.8 million U.S. Air Force contract for the production of the fourth Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS).