News & Events

The first flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket ended in failure shortly after release from its carrier aircraft. The launcher carried a dummy mass. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052500

The unpiloted Japanese HTV cargo spacecraft has been installed to the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module on 25 May at 1213 UTC, where it will remain for two months. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052501

The Russian private space firm Sputnix has signed a memorandum with the Japanese company Mitsui & Co. Moscow on co-operation in producing and exporting microsatellite components and providing microsatellite-based services, Sputnix announced. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052502

Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat; Payload: Tundra No.4 (Tundra 14L, EKS No. 4, military designation: Kosmos 2546); Date: 22 May 2020, 0731 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The early warning satellite was deployed into a 1,655 km x 38,507 km x 63,82 degrees Molniya orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052400

The first flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne has been postponed out of "an abundance of caution" following a sensor fault. It was originally scheduled for 24 May at 1700 UTC. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052401

The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellite programme, commonly referred to as NGG, completed its preliminary design reviews (PDR) for its two candidate mission payloads, on 21 May. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052402

In partnership with the U.S. Space Force and Space Development Agency, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Blackjack programme is targeting flights to low-Earth orbit (LEO) later this year and 2021. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052403

China’s first technology experiment satellite for low-orbit broadband communication has completed more than 180 communication tests and generated fruitful results, according to its developer. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052404

The launch of Japan’s ninth HTV aboard a H-IIB was the final mission for both the cargo vessel and the rocket. Work on their successors has already started. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052100

Kleos Space, a space-powered RF reconnaissance data-as-a-service (DaaS) company, has been awarded a contract to prepare Kleos data to be accessed by the Micro-Satellite Military Utility (MSMU Project) Project Arrangement (PA). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020052101