News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Three Proton-M heavy-lift launch vehicles will be returned from Baikonur to the Khrunichev rocket manufacturer in Moscow so that low-quality parts can be replaced, a source in the space and rocket industry has told Sputnik. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041301
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has opened a new, modern spacecraft development, integration and test factory with state-of-the-art laboratories and secure facilities in Centennial, Colorado. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041302
Rocket Lab successfully completed a mid-air recovery test – a manoeuvre that involves snagging an Electron test stage from the sky with a helicopter. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041200
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