News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Ball Aerospace conducted a critical design review (CDR) of the Weather System Follow-on (WSF) satellite mission, which it is building for the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). With CDR concluded, Ball Aerospace begins full production of the satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020042102
NASA has awarded a sole source contract to the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder for the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2). The new sensor provides continuity to data delivered by TSIS-1, which launched in December 2017. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020042103
At Baikonur cosmodrome, drawing to a close is the planned processing of the cargo transportation spacecraft Progress MS-14, developed and built by RSC Energia, for the launch under the programme of the 75th resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020042000
The French Space Agency (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, CNES) has recently signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for the development and manufacture of the thermal infrared instrument for the TRISHNA satellite. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020042001
The launch of the Ekspress-80 and Ekspress-103 telecommunications satellites from the Baikonur spaceport was indefinitely postponed due to technical problems detected in the Proton-M rocket, Russia’s ISS-Reshetnev Company said. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041900
Launches of two satellites from French Guiana have been preliminary postponed for September, CEO of Russia’s state space corporation Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, was quoted as saying. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041901
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will send two U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station on 27 May – the first crewed spaceflight from the U.S. in nearly a decade. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041902
Intelsat announced that Intelsat 901 has returned to service following the successful docking with the first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) from Northrop Grumman Corporation and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SpaceLogistics LLC, on 25 February. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041903
A new navigation satellite, GLONASS-M, designed and built by ISS-Reshetnev Company, has been commissioned for operational use. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041904
On 8 April 2020, the Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission achieved an important milestone, passing NASA’s critical System Requirements Review/Mission Definition Review (SRR/MDR). http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020041600