October 2018

Roskosmos executive director Sergey Krikalev confirmed that the failure of a Soyuz FG on 11 October was indeed caused by a collision between the first and second stages after separation. In related news, three more Soyuz launches are planned before the next crewed mission, tentatively scheduled for 3 December. The Soyuz failure reportedly has also…

Telesat announced that its new Telstar 18 VANTAGE high throughput satellite (HTS) is fully operational at 138 degrees East and has entered commercial service. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103101

Eutelsat Communications reported revenues for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2018-19. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103102

Maxar Technologies Ltd. reported financial results for the third quarter ending 30 September 2018. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103103

For its eighth launch of the year, and the second Soyuz lift-off from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana in 2018, Arianespace will orbit MetOp-C for EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103000

Experts at the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan will dismantle the four strap-on boosters of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket, which is scheduled for launch in November, and re-inspect them in order to avoid launch failures like that on 11 October, a Baikonur source was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103001

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed qualification testing for the enhanced reaction control thruster system for NASA’s Orion crew vehicle, helping to clear the way for the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft’s second test flight, and first mission to cislunar space, called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103002

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103003

RemoveDEBRIS carried out a test of its onboard vision-based navigation (VBN) system on 28 October. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103004

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has been awarded a contract by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation (SJC) to design and build gateways for SJC’s new High Throughput Satellite (HTS) network. The JCSAT-18 HTS satellite, launching in 2019, will deliver broadband and mobile communication services to Asia Pacific and Eastern Russia. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018103005