Satellite News

The International Space Station grew in size today with the addition of the P3/P4 integrated truss structure.

After more than 10 years and 40,000 orbits, NASA’s Fast Auroral SnapshoT (FAST) satellite continues to unveil the mysteries of the Earth’s aurora borealis and australis, also known as the northern and southern lights.

The launch of India’s Cartosat 2 along with the Indonesian LAPAN-Tubsat microsatellite aboard a PSLV rocket is set for the second or third week of October, an Indonesian official said.

China plans to launch Haiyang 1-B (HY-1B, “Ocean 1-B”), an advanced version of the Haiyang 1-A oceanic satellite, by the end of this year to monitor marine environment and disasters.

Boston University announced it has received an eight-year, US$42.5 million contract from NASA to study Earth’s radiation belts, a region which can be dangerous to astronauts and orbiting satellites.

The U.S. National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) command, control and communications segment (C3S) acceptance testing has been completed two months early.

Boeing said its current on-orbit fleet of 95 satellites has been providing services for a combined 887 years — 156 years beyond their initial contract life. The spacecraft were built for customers in 19 countries on six continents.

Eutelsat Communications has retained Alcatel Alenia Space for the design, manufacturing, assembling, tests and on-ground delivery of the W2A satellite.