June 2020

ISS-Reshetnev Company has completed assembly on the Ekspress-AMU7 telecommunications satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061503

ATEME has partnered with SES, VideoLabs and IETR for the first end-to-end UHD satellite broadcast transmission using the new Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061504

Rocket: Electron/Curie; Payload: ANDESITE, M2 Pathfinder, three classified U.S. National Reconnaissance Office satellites; Date: 13 June 2020, 0512 UTC, Launch site: Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The mission was Rocket Lab’s 12th Electron launch and continued the company’s record of 100% mission success for customers since Electron’s first orbital mission in January 2018. Rocket Lab has…

Rocket: Falcon 9: Payload: 58 Starlink satellites, three SkySat satellites; Date: 13 June 2020, 0921 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The SkySats were deployed sequentially beginning about 12 minutes after lift-off, and the Starlink satellites deployed approximately 26 minutes after lift-off. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061401

The final satellite to complete the third-generation network of China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System is now ready for launch, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061402

The first satellite of the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) constellation, launched 18 December, is now completing the Orbit Test stage that will make it capable of fully-fledged operational co-operation with the four COSMO-SkyMed First Generation satellites, increasing the overall capabilities of the system. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061403

Two satellites for China’s space-based Internet-of-Things (IoT) project have completed phase-1 tests in orbit, sources with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) said. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061404

Spaceflight Industries, Inc. announced the finalisation of the sale of its rideshare business, Spaceflight, Inc., to Mitsui & Co., Ltd., in partnership with Yamasa Co., Ltd. following the completion of the review process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). BlackSky Global LLC (BlackSky) was not part of the Mitusi transaction…

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2C; Payload: Haiyang-1D (HY-1D); Date: 10 June 2020, 1831 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellite was released into a 770 km x 785 km x 98.44 degrees Sun-synchronous orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061100

Rocket Lab has scrubbed the launch of an Electron rocket into orbit from New Zealand because of strong ground winds. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061101