Satellite News

Derelict satellites could in future be grappled and removed from key orbits around Earth with a space tug using magnetic forces, the European Space Agency said.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft which was launched on 14 August aboard a Falcon 9 rocket has arrived at the International Space Station.

Russian Aerospace Forces assumed control over newest military satellite, Blagovest No. 11L, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

With a Flight Readiness Review successfully concluded on 17 August, the U.S. Air Force’s Operational Responsive Space (ORS)-5 satellite is now ready for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Lift-off of the five-stage Orbital ATK Minotaur IV launch vehicle is scheduled for 26 August during a four-hour launch window that opens at 0315 UTC.

JUICE, the Europe Space Agency’s deep space mission to the icy moons of Jupiter led by Airbus, has taken off for the first time with the testing of the RIME instrument (RIME – Radar for Icy Moon Exploration) flying beneath a helicopter.

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) signed an agreement to provide Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) a 10% share of the tasking and data acquisition capabilities from NovaSAR-S, a first-in-class small radar satellite due for launch later this year.

Using its Modular Architecture Propulsion System (MAPS) technology, PacSci EMC successfully fired a series of solid rocket motors to both point and significantly change the orbital velocity of a cubesat.

Two more Galileo satellites have reached Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, joining the first pair of navigation satellites and the Ariane 5 rocket due to haul the quartet to orbit this December.