News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Having completed all necessary qualification testing, ESA has received the green light to upgrade the global infrastructure running Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system. The resulting migration, set to start in February 2019, will incorporate new elements into the world-spanning system and boost the robustness of Galileo services delivered from the 26 satellites in orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018122204
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-71 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office was scrubbed on 20 December (UTC) due to indications of elevated hydrogen concentrations within the port booster engine section. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018122000
Thunderstorms forced SpaceX to postpone the launch of a GPS III navigation satellite for the U.S. military, which was poised to be the company’s first national security space mission for the United States. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018122001
Canadian space launch services company SpaceHorizon announced that its engineers have completed a pre-phase A design of its LV1 medium sized launch vehicle, slated to begin service for commercial flight starting in 2024. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018122002
19 December 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of the day when the first Gorizont telecommunications satellite, designed and built by ISS-Reshetnev Company, was launched into orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018122003
Rocket: GSLV Mk. II; Payload: GSAT-7A; Date: 19 December 2018, 1040 UTC; Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, India. About 19 minutes after lift-off, GSAT-7A was injected into a supersynchronous Transfer Orbit of 170.8 km x 39,127 km, which is very close to the intended orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018121900
Rocket: Soyuz ST-B; Payload: CSO-1; Date: 19 December 2018, 1637 UTC; Launch site: Sinnamary, French Guiana. The rocket delivered the CSO-1 spacecraft passenger (which had a mass at launch of 3,566 kg) into an 800-km Sun-synchronous orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018121901
A sensor issue on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is still delaying the launch of a new GPS III navigation satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018121902
Spaceflight announced it was awarded the contract to provide launch services for INPE, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (in Portuguese: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais), the research unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018121903
The Soyuz ST-B and Falcon 9 launches scheduled for 18 December have been recycled 24 hours. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018121800