News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
The P120C motor was successfully tested for the third time on 7 October at Europe’s Spaceport solid rocket motor test bench operated by the French Space Agency (CNES). This third successful test, carried out in the Ariane 6 configuration, paves the way for final qualification by the European Space Agency (ESA). The first and second…
Ball Aerospace has shipped the Ozone Mapping Profile Suite (OMPS) instrument for integration onto NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) weather satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100804
Boeing and the U.S. Space Force successfully completed the first major engineering design review for the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11+ military communications satellite. Production will begin next year at Boeing’s El Segundo factory, with delivery scheduled for 2024. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100805
Airbus has joined forces with Earthcube, a French company specialising in the analysis of geospatial data using Artificial Intelligence (AI), to develop and market "Defence Site Monitoring," an online solution for strategic site monitoring dedicated to defence actors, combining advanced satellite imagery and AI. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100806
AeroVironment, Inc. announced the Sunglider solar-powered high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) achieved key test milestones, including reaching an altitude of more than 60,000 feet above sea level and successfully demonstrating mobile broadband communication. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100807
The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission is getting ready to fly by Venus. It will make a close approach of the planet on 15 October at 0358 UTC at a distance of approximately 10,720 km. Gravity assist flybys are needed to set the spacecraft on course for Mercury orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100700
Momentus Inc., a commercial space company offering in-space transportation and infrastructure services, announced it has signed a definitive merger agreement with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. that will result in the company becoming publicly listed. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100701
AAC Clyde Space has reached an agreement to acquire 100 % of the shares in Hyperion Technologies BV, in a shares and cash deal. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100702
Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 60 Starlink satellites; Date: 6 October 2020, 1129 UTC; Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, USA. The Starlink satellites deployed approximately 1 hour and 1 minute after lift-off. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100600
The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) made two awards for another layer of its Tranche 0 National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). SpaceX and L3Harris will build satellites for the tracking layer of the space-based portion of the missile defence system. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020100601