Iranian satellite launch fails – Satellite News Digest
Iran launched a satellite on 15 January but the spacecraft failed to reach orbit, state television quoted the telecommunications minister as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011500
Russian space telescope still not responding – Satellite News Digest
Another attempt to restore control over Russia’s radio telescope Spektr-R has failed, Alexander Bloshenko, adviser on science to the chief of Russia’s state space corporation Roskosmos, was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011501
CGWIC signs launch agreement with Satellogic – Satellite News Digest
China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) announced a Multiple Launch Services Agreement (MLA) with Satellogic. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011502
Russia to complete military satellite constellation Blagovest in April – Satellite News Digest
The launch of the fourth and last military communications satellite of Russia’s Blagovest constellation is tentatively planned for April, a source in the space industry was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011503
D-Orbit to develop precise in-orbit CubeSat deployer – Satellite News Digest
The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded D-Orbit SpA with a contract for the development of a precise in-orbit CubeSat deployer. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011504
NASA continues efforts to fix Hubble's WFC-3 instrument – Satellite News Digest
NASA said it continues to work toward recovering the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, which suspended operations on Tuesday, 8 January. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011400
Cosmic radiation possible cause of Spektr-R failure – Satellite News Digest
The Spektr-R space radio telescope’s transmission device failure may have been caused by cosmic radiation accumulated in the spacecraft’s electronics during the past eight years, a source in the Russian space industry was quoted as saying by TASS. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011401
First Spacebus Neo service module assembled – Satellite News Digest
On 27 December 2018, Thales Alenia Space assembled the avionics and Xenon propulsion modules to form the service module of the first Spacebus Neo satellite, KONNECT, a high throughput satellite ordered by Eutelsat. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011402
Airbus receives DARPA contract in support of Blackjack programme – Satellite News Digest
Airbus Defense and Space Inc. has been awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a satellite bus in support of the Blackjack programme. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019011403
ESA chooses Thales Alenia Space to lead the FLEX mission – Satellite News Digest
Thales Alenia Space announced that it has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite mission. FLEX was selected in 2015 as ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer mission, and is scheduled for launch in 2023. It will map the Earth’s vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity using the…