News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
For two times in a row, technical troubles have forced ULA to scrub a Delta IV Heavy launch attempt at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The rocket is to carry a classified U.S. National Reconnaissance Office satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120902
On 20 November 2018, technicians observed an error from NOAA’s GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) – unrelated to the ongoing issues with the loop heat pipe – that resulted in degraded infrared imagery. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120903
exactEarth Ltd. announced that its advanced AIS payload onboard the Spanish radar satellite, PAZ, has completed its commissioning phase and is now fully-operational. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120904
Ball Aerospace has delivered the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) spectrometer to NASA after a successful final acceptance review. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120905
Inmarsat has entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) to be the first commercial customer to place an order for the new H3 launch vehicle. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120600
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) will lift-off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 8 December at 0419 UTC. The mission is designated NROL-71. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120601
BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA spacecraft on a mission to Mercury, is now firing its thrusters for the first time in flight. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120602
Eurobroadband Infrastructure (EBI), a subsidiary of Eutelsat, is launching a Preferred Partner Programme for the distribution of capacity on its KA-SAT satellite. The programme aims at revitalising the distribution of KA-SAT capacity to boost the deployment of Internet access via satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120603
Rocket: Falcon 9; Payload: CRS-16; Date: 5 December 2018, 1816 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The CRS cargo vessel successfully made it to orbit, which was the primary goal of the launch. However, the rocket’s first stage missed its goal of securing an upright landing on solid ground at Cape Canaveral’s…
US small satellite launch company Rocket Lab is gearing up for the company’s third orbital launch of the year, the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 mission for NASA. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2018120501