As expected, the “drifting” Angosat is declared a Total Loss
The Russian space agency and industrial complex Roscosmos has declared that the Angosat communications satellite as a “total loss” for operational and insurance purposes. Roscosmos plans to build a replacement spacecraft for Angola. The satellite ran into...
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Bridenstine gets NASA Administrator job after scraping home in Senate vote
Under the threat of NASA being leaderless for several months to come, the US Senate has bitten the bullet and approved the appointment of former jet fighter pilot and current Republican Congressman Jim Bridenstine to the role of NASA Administrator. Bridenstine’s...
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Spaceflight takes out two launch bookings of Vega rockets
The commercial launch arranger Spaceflght has booked two Vega launches from European launch provider Arianespace. The first flight, which will take place in early 2019 from Kourou in French Guiana, will carry a new Small Spacecraft Mission Service dispenser built by...
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Eutelsat completes sale of Hispasat shares after Spanish government consent
Eutelsat, one of the “Big Four” global FSS operators, has received approval from the Spanish government for the sale of its 33.69 per cent shareholding in fellow European FSS operator Hispasat for EUR€302m (US$372.5m). The sale has been a lengthy...
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On a lighter note: The thoughts of Chairman Musk
Rockets-to-electric-cars entrepreneur industrialist Elon Musk may be a multi-billionaire but that does not mean that everything is going to plan. For while his SpaceX rocket firm is going from strength to strength, Musk’s Tesla electric firm has yet to make a...
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Arianespace gets launch order for BSat 4b
The Japanese communications satellite operator Broadcasting Satellite System Corp (BSat) has awarded a launch order for the launch of its BSAT 4B spacecraft. The launch will be a flight of the Ariane 5 ECA in 2020. The 3,520kg spacecraft is currently under...
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Blagovest 12L (Cosmos 2526) is launched successfully on a Proton M/Breeze M
The military and government communications satellite Blagovest 12L has been launched to a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) under the call sign Cosmos 2526 by a Proton M Breeze M flying out of the Baikonour Cosmodrome near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan. The launch took place...
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Falcon 9 launches Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to position near the Moon
The 362kg Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) satellite was launched for NASA by a SpaceX Falcon 9v1.2 FT Block 4 rocket. The Cape Canaveral launch which occurred at 2251 GMT on 18 April 2018, took the satellite into a long elliptical transfer orbit on its...
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Holidays in space might just become a reality as Aurora Space Hotel starts taking reservations
While the concept of a space hotel has long held interest amongst science fiction and other writers – even Roald Dahl had a “Space Hotel USA” in his children’s story “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” – the planned ending...
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AsiaSat CEO Andrew Jordan resigns from post, replaced by CTO Roger Tong
Regional FSS operator AsiaSat, has announced that Andrew Jordan is resigning from his positions as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect. He is to be replaced in both positions by current company Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Dr...
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