News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
VOX Space, the Virgin Orbit subsidiary which provides launch services for the U.S. national security community, has been selected to launch three dedicated missions for the U.S. Space Force (USSF), delivering multiple spacecraft to orbit for the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program-S28 (STP-S28). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041201
Russia will slash the price of its space launch services by 30% to counter what it sees as undercutting by SpaceX, the head of Russia’s state space agency Roskosmos was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041202
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission completed its first flyby on 10 April, as the spacecraft came less than 12,700 km from Earth’s surface at 0425 UTC, steering its trajectory towards the final destination, Mercury. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041203
Spacecraft producers from Russia, France, Italy, the United States and Turkey sent technical proposals on making the Kazakh telecom satellite KazSat-2R, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041204
A Chang Zheng 3B/G2 rocket with the Palapa-N1 (Nusantara Dua) satellite blasted off at 1146 UTC from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040900
Rocket: Soyuz-2.1a; Payload: Soyuz MS-16; Date: 9 April 2020, 0805 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft reached the International Space Station under a six-hour scheme, making four orbits around Earth. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040901
Omnispace announced it has selected Thales Alenia Space to develop the initial component of its satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. This will advance Omnispace’s vision to deliver a global hybrid communications network based on 3GPP standards. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040902
Maxar Technologies announced it has closed the sale of MDA, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, to a consortium of investors led by Northern Private Capital for C$1 billion. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040903
The United States Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has decided to reschedule the launch of GPS III SV03 (GPS III-3) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to minimise the potential of COVID-19 exposure to the launch crew and early-orbit operators. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040800
Currently it seems to be easier to list all rocket launches that are still going ahead as planned rather than list all cancellations. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020040801