News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Intelsat has selected SpaceX as its launch partner for Intelsat 40e (IS-40e). The launch is planned for 2022 on SpaceX’s American-built Falcon 9 launch vehicle. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031701
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) shipped the core of the last H-IIB Launch Vehicle (No. 9) from the Tobishima Plant of the Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works in Aichi Prefecture to the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031702
NASA has certified Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle. The certification milestone was achieved largely through the successful launch of the NASA ELaNa-19 mission which saw 13 NASA CubeSats delivered to orbit by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle in December 2018. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031703
The Sea Launch Commander command ship has arrived in Slavyanka in the Primorsky Territory in Russia’s Far East. The ship left the port of Long Beach near Los Angeles on 28 February. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031704
The inaugural flight of China’s new Chang Zheng 7A rocket – a variant of the CZ-7 – ended in failure on 16 March 2020. Lift-off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center took place at 1334 UTC. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031600
Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b; Payload: GLONASS-M; Date: 16 March 2020, 1828 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The Russian Defence Ministry declared the launch a success. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031601
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the need to fully implement the measures decided by the French government, launch campaigns underway at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana have been suspended. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031602
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission has successfully completed several months of simulated space environment System level testing in the NASA-owned thermal vacuum chamber at Plum Brook Station in Ohio. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031603
NASA has selected proposals for four missions that would study cosmic explosions and the debris they leave behind, as well as monitor how nearby stellar flares may affect the atmospheres of orbiting planets. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031604
The Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin has elected James D. Taiclet, 59, as president and CEO, effective 15 June. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020031605