News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
For its first launch of 2019, Arianespace will orbit two telecommunications satellites using an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center: Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4, a condosat for KACST and Hellas Sat; along with GSAT-31 for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012900
China plans to launch the third Chang Zheng-5 rocket in July, said Yang Baohua, vice president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012901
Thales SA would build satellite production and research facilities in Canada if it won orders related to two multi-billion dollar local projects, the company said. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012902
The P120C was successfully tested for the second time on 28 January at the European Spaceport in French Guiana, on the BEAP test bench for solid rocket motors operated by the French space agency CNES. This second successful test of the P120C is a major step in the development of the future European launchers, Ariane…
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have begun transmitting a new set of commands to the Opportunity rover in an attempt to compel the 15-year-old Martian explorer to contact Earth. The new commands, which will be beamed to the rover during the next several weeks, address low-likelihood events that could have occurred…
Ball Aerospace has successfully completed the first communication demonstration between Telesat’s LEO Phase 1 satellite and Ball’s fully electronically-steered flat panel antenna at Telesat’s Allan Park ground station in Ontario, Canada. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012700
The original article in Sat-ND, 24 January 2019, was partially based on outdated information. It has been rewritten to reflect the fact that Thales Alenia Space/Maxar and Airbus Defence and Space were both selected to continue their work on Telesat’s LEO constellation after having completed their respective System Requirements Reviews. Hence, the article’s new title…
Rocket: PSLV-C44; Payload: Microsat-R, Kalamsat; Date: 24 January 2019, 1807 UTC; Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, India. Around 13 minutes into the mission, the fourth and final stage (PS4) of PSLV injected the Microsat-R imaging satellite into a 277-km Sun-synchronous polar orbit inclined at 96.6 degrees. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012400
Payload preparations have commenced for Arianespace’s first Vega mission in 2019, which will deliver the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) newest Earth observation satellite to Sun-synchronous orbit in March. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012401
Telesat announced that, following a highly rigorous process involving leading satellite manufacturing companies, it has entered into a contract with the consortium of Thales Alenia Space and Maxar Technologies, the owner of SSL, to further develop system designs for Telesat’s LEO constellation. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019012402