News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Iridium Communications Inc. announced the first seven companies it has authorised to provide its Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services, planned for commercial introduction in the first half of 2020. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121103
Eutelsat Communications has secured a multi-year capacity contract at its flagship Hotbird neighbourhood with Spanish telecommunications operator, Telefonica. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121104
Rocket Lab said it has flown a fully Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) for the first time on an Electron launch vehicle. The AFTS flown on the company’s most recent mission, ‘Running Out Of Fingers’, makes Rocket Lab one of only two U.S. launch companies to fly with an autonomous system. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121000
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that it had been awarded a US$39 million sole-source contract for Geolocation Global Support Services. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121001
Hughes Network Systems, LLC and Al Yah Satellite Communications company announced the commencement of a joint venture to provide satellite broadband services in Brazil, now operational under the established Hughes do Brasil name. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121002
Hughes Network Systems, LLC announced that SES will employ the Hughes JUPITER System to enable services on its SES-17 satellite, which is being built by Thales Alenia Space and expected to launch in 2021. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019121003
On its ninth and final mission of 2019 –the third this year with the Soyuz medium-lift launcher from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana – Arianespace will perform a multiple launch for European institutional needs. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019120900
ClearSpace-1 will be the first space mission to remove an item of debris from orbit, planned for launch in 2025. The mission is being procured as a service contract with a start-up-led commercial consortium, to help establish a new market for in-orbit servicing, as well as debris removal. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019120901
The XMM-Newton X-ray observatory developed and built by Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA) lifted off on 10 December 1999. Since its launch, XMM-Newton has simultaneously collected X-rays, visible and ultraviolet light and demonstrated its role as one of the most important astronomical observatories of all time. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019120902
Rocket: Soyuz-2.1a; Progress MS-13 [Progress 74P]; Date: 6 December 2019, 0934 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. 8 min 48 sec after lift-off the vehicle normally separated from the third stage and was inserted into the planned orbit. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2019120800