Satellite News

Airbus Defense and Space Inc. has been awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a satellite bus in support of the Blackjack programme.

Thales Alenia Space announced that it has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite mission. FLEX was selected in 2015 as ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer mission, and is scheduled for launch in 2023. It will map the Earth’s vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity using the FLORIS instrument.

The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract to continue to sustain and further modernise the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation’s ground control system through 2025. This is the follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin’s current GCS contract awarded in 2013.

Roscosmos said its specialists are attempting to fix problems that have blocked control of the Spektr-R satellite radio telescope.

SSL announced that it is leveraging Maxar’s combined capabilities for a contract to define requirements for a small form-factor satellite that will monitor and measure methane emissions from oil and gas facilities around the world.

China’s Chang’e-4 probe has started carrying out a series of scientific research tasks involving multiple countries and organisations since it landed on the far side of the moon on 3 January, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.

China’s Chang’e-4 probe has started carrying out a series of scientific research tasks involving multiple countries and organisations since it landed on the far side of the moon on 3 January, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.

ESA’s Hera mission concept, currently under study, would be humanity’s first mission to a binary asteroid: the 800 m-diameter Didymos is accompanied by a 170 m-diameter secondary body. The spacecraft will carry two tiny CubeSats for deployment around – and eventual landing on – the Didymos asteroids.