April 2016

http://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2016/04/29/ula-ids-source-of-atlas-5-oa-6-mission-anomaly/

http://www.satellitetoday.com/technology/2016/04/29/esa-viasat-partner-on-high-capacity-satellite-product-development/

http://www.satellitetoday.com/technology/2016/04/29/un-and-blacksky-form-partnership/

http://www.satellitetoday.com/regional/2016/04/29/digitalglobe-gains-new-worldview-4-commitment/

Rocket: Soyuz 2-1a/Volga; Payload: Mikhailo V. Lomonosov [MLV-300], Aist-2D and SamSat-2018 [Kontakt-NS]; Date: 28 April 2016, 0201 UTC; Launch site: Vostochny, Russia. The separation of spacecraft was completed normally at 0407 UTC. Normal separation was confirmed during a communications session at 0505 UTC. Contact has been established with the satellites. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042800

Rocket: PSLV-C33; Payload: IRNSS-1G; Date: 28 April 2016, 0720 UTC; Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, India. IRNSS-1G, the seventh satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) was deployed into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042801

Russia’s first upgraded Proton-M rocket may be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 28 May, a space industry source was quoted as saying by Novosti. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042802

The U.S. Air Force announced the award of the first competitively sourced National Security Space (NSS) launch services contract in more than a decade. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) was awarded a contract for Global Positioning System (GPS) III Launch Services – by default as its competitor ULA did not bid for the contract. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042803

Japan’s space agency said that the ASTRO-H ‘Hitomi’ x-ray satellite has failed, concluding a month-long effort to salvage the ambitious project closely watched across the globe. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042804

Launched in January 2016, the Jason-3 operational oceanography satellite recently passed its in-orbit acceptance review. Jason-3 is a quadripartite programme between Eumetsat and NOAA (the European and American weather satellite organisations), and the French and American space agencies, CNES and NASA. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2016042805