News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Ariane 6’s Vulcain 2.1 liquid-fuelled engine has now completed its qualification testing, which means combined tests can now begin. A review last week marked the culmination of two Vulcain static firing test campaigns over 15 months on two demonstration models in test facilities at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092901
Ball Aerospace delivered the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) for Landsat 9, completing development of the instrument on schedule and under budget. Ball will continue to support instrument integration and spacecraft-level testing, working closely with NASA and the Landsat 9 spacecraft provider. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092902
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., announced that it received a US$7.5 million award to enhance the Enterprise Management & Control (EM&C) architecture with a Satellite Situational Awareness, Common Operating Picture (SA-COP). In addition, Kratos will introduce new orchestration capabilities that automate the configuration of terminals and supporting networks and scale this capability to support…
Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat M; Payload: EKS-3 [Tundra 3, Kosmos-2541]; Date: 26 September 2019, 0746 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The early warning was deployed as planned and has been tracked in a 1,646 km x 38,537 km x 63.83 degrees Molniya orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092600
The launch of a Proton-M rocket with Eutelsat-5WB and MEV-1 will take place in the first half of October, Roskosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092601
Thales Alenia Space and the Brazilian Space Agency under the authority of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) signed an agreement to transfer technology that will enable Brazil to enhance its capability to design and develop optical instruments for Earth observation satellites. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092602
Spire Global announced over US$40 million in new funding from strategic partners including ITOCHU, Mitsui, and Scottish Investment Bank and financial investors led by the GPO Fund, Perennial Value Management Limited, and Bessemer Ventures. Existing investors RRE Capital, Expon Capital, Seraphim Capital and Qualcomm Ventures also participated, among others. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092603
KBR announced that it was awarded two contract modifications totalling almost US$40 million to upgrade remote tracking stations in the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092604
Rocket: Soyuz-FG; Payload: Soyuz MS-15; Date: 25 September 2019, 1357 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. According to telemetry information, the crewed spacecraft separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle as scheduled. It docked to the ISS on 25 September 2019 at 1942 UTC. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092500
Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: Yunhai-1 02; Date: 25 September 2019, 0054 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. U.S. military tracking data confirmed the Chang Zheng 2D placed its payload into a nearly circular Sun-synchronous orbit of approx. 775 km x 98.59 degrees. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019092501