June 2020

Intelsat has filed its C-band spectrum transition plan with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020062104

Due to unfavourable wind conditions at altitude above the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace has decided not to initiate the final phase of preparation operations for the upcoming Vega launch. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061800

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has signed a contract with NEC to launch a Vietnamese Earth observation satellite LOTUSat-1 using Japan’s Epsilon Launch Vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061801

Rocket Lab has signed a launch agreement with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for two back-to-back dedicated small satellite missions aboard an Electron launch vehicle. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061802

PredaSAR Corporation announced that it will launch a constellation of 48 commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites across multiple orbits. According to the company, the constellation will be the world’s largest and most advanced commercial SAR satellite constellation http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061803

Microsatellite developer Astranis successfully concluded thermal-vacuum testing of a qualification vehicle developed for their MicroGEO product line of small communication satellites. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061804

Leonardo announced the conclusion of transactions aimed at purchasing 988,475 Avio’s shares. Following the transactions, Leonardo increases its stake in Avio by 3.75%, reaching 29.63% of the share capital. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061805

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: Gaofen 9-03, Pixing-3A, HEDE-5; Date: 17 June 2020, 0719 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellites were deployed into an approx. 486 km x 503 km x 97.32 degrees Sun-synchronous orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061700

Spaceflight Inc. announced it inked an agreement with SpaceX to secure rideshare capacity on multiple launches. This agreement between the two companies secures Spaceflight capacity to launch manifest payloads on several SpaceX launches through the end of 2021. In addition, Spaceflight will launch two rideshare payloads aboard SpaceX’s upcoming tenth Starlink mission. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061701

With the successful integration of the ATLID-Instrument the EarthCARE satellite (Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) has passed a crucial milestone, as it concludes the "onboarding" of the three European instruments. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020061702