News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
The ascender of China’s Chang’e-5 probe successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar orbit, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Sunday. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120603
The U.S Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Production Corps successfully transferred Satellite Control Authority of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Space Vehicle 6 to Space Operations Command on 29 October. Operational Acceptance is expected to occur before the end of the year after operational testing has successfully concluded. The fourth Space Operation…
The scatterometer (SCA) antenna subsystem of the weather satellite MetOp-SG-B, built by prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space, has successfully passed the Test Review Board (TRB). This validates the technical quality of the antenna design and production. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120605
China plans to launch a new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging satellite for monitoring Arctic shipping routes, the satellite developers said. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120606
In its latest research titled, "FSS Capacity Pricing Trends," Euroconsult, the consulting firm focused on space and satellite-enabled markets, reported that the dramatic pricing declines of the past five years have slowed as a result of notable slowdowns in new capacity supply additions. However, intense pricing pressure is expected to return in advance of new…
Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat; Payload: Gonets-M No. 30, 31, 32, Kosmos-2548 (ERA-1); Date: 3 December 2020, 0114 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. The satellites were deployed into 1,486 km x 1,505 km x 82.50 degrees orbits. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120300
Chinese rocket manufacturer, China Rocket Co., Ltd., and the municipal government of Haiyang in east China’s Shandong Province signed a contract pledging to build a 163-hectare production base for solid-propellant rockets. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120301
China’s Chang’e-5 probe has completed sampling on the moon, the samples have been sealed inside the ascent vehicle, which then lifted off from the moon’s surface at 1510 UTC. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120302
Thales Alenia Space has signed a EUR482 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the Copernicus Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band (ROSE-L) environmental monitoring satellite, as part of Europe’s Copernicus programme, the first tranche being EUR90 million. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120303
Lockheed Martin announced the U.S. Space Force has determined the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite (SBIRS GEO-5) is complete and ready for launch in 2021. http://www.sat-nd.com/archive/?id=2020120304