News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said they were last able to communicate with their ASTERIA cubesat, designed to search for planets outside the solar system, on 5 December. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010502
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to launch its GSAT-30, a heavy communication satellite on 16 January (UTC) from Kourou, French Guiana. GSAT-30 will launch on board an Ariane-5. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010300
Russia’s state space corporation Roskosmos has scheduled launches of over 40 space rockets in 2020, Roskosmos said. Chinese space launches are also expected to exceed 40, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010301
State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said on Thursday it signed with the Israeli government to build the country’s next communication satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010302
The Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) announced that China’s first solar sail, SIASAIL-I (aka Xiaoxiang 1-07 and TY 1-07), has successfully verified a number of key technologies in orbit, a big breakthrough in China’s solar sail development. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010303
China will finish the construction of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3), with another two geostationary orbit satellites to be launched before June 2020, according to BDS spokesperson Ran Chengqi. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010100
India has approved its third lunar mission. The Chandrayaan-3 mission will have a lander and a rover, but not an orbiter, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan told reporters. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010101
Boeing has developed a new variant of its 702 satellite for the U.S. Air Force’s Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) constellation, one that offers both greater bandwidth efficiency and signal power than previous satellites in the fleet. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020010102
Maxar Technologies announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell MDA to a consortium of financial sponsors led by Northern Private Capital (NPC), for C$1 billion (US$765 million), subject to customary adjustments. The company said it expects to use proceeds to reduce leverage and improve its capital structure to prioritise investments for growth…
Rocket: Chang Zheng 5 Y3; Payload: Shijian-20 (SJ-20); Date: 27 December 2019, 1245 UTC; Launch site: Wenchang Space Launch Center, China. The experimental satellite SJ-20 was deployed into supersynchronous transfer orbit some 36 minutes after lift-off. [This was likely the last satellite launch of 2019.–Ed.] http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019122700