News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: 60 Starlink satellites; Date: 17 February 2020, 1505 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. While the satellites were successfully deployed, the rocket’s first stage failed to land on a platform as planned. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021700
Rocket: Antares 230+; Payload: NG-13/Cygnus; Date: 15 February 2020, 1821 UTC; Launch site: Wallops Flight Facility, USA. The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station at about 0905 UTC on 18 February. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021600
NASA has selected Rocket Lab of Huntington Beach, California, to provide launch services for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021601
Arianespace’s dual-payload mission with satellites to serve Japan and South Korea – JCSAT-17 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2B, respectively – has been approved for next week’s launch from the Spaceport in French Guiana. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021602
Russia’s State Commission has set a preliminary date of 20 February for the launch from Plesetsk of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a Meridian military satellite atop, which was previously cancelled, a source in the rocket and space industry was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021603
Eutelsat Communications announced that the GEO-3 payload of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS), a hosted payload aboard its Eutelsat 5 West B satellite, has successfully entered into service. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021604
Four satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) have recently passed tests in orbit and started operation in the network, according to China’s Satellite Navigation System Management Office. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021605
The Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications reviewed the financial results for the half-year ending 31 December 2019. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021606
NASA has selected four Discovery Program investigations to develop concept studies for new missions. Although they’re not official missions yet and some ultimately may not be chosen to move forward, the selections focus on compelling targets and science that are not covered by NASA’s active missions or recent selections. Final selections will be made next…
On 3 February, the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-5) communications satellite was successfully transferred to Space Operations Command (SpOC). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020021301