Space Missions

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 7 – 13 February 2022. Welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Space Updates! I’m Jean Deville, joined as always by my co-host Blaine Curcio.

Lockheed Martin Corporation announced it has terminated its agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne after a lawsuit filed last month by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeking a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition. The company said the acquisition would have benefitted the industry “through greater efficiency, speed, and significant cost reductions for the U.S. government.”

Flight VS27, deploying 34 OneWeb satellites, was Arianespace’s first mission of the year and the 340th for the Arianespace family comprising Ariane, Soyuz and Vega. The number of satellites in orbit in the OneWeb constellation is now 428. Soyuz, the medium-lift, four-stage launch vehicle carrying the spacecraft, was produced by Roscosmos’ Progress Space Rocket Center.

In this Space Café Radio – on tour in Brussels at the 14th European Space Conference in the Egmont Palace, SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Cafe Benelux Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Prof. Guenther Hasinger, Director of Science and Head of ESAC about the fascinating world of astronomy, James Webb, and what it means to be the director of science.

The inaugural edition of the NewSpace Africa Conference 2022 will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25th to 27th April. The event is organized by Space in Africa in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the Kenyan Space Agency. The theme of the event is “Making Africa the New Hotspot for Space Business”.

Arctic Space Technologies announced that their high-latitude ground station facility in northern Sweden operated is now providing advantages to Viasat Real-Time Earth (RTE) customers. Viasat benefits from the collaboration by adding Piteå, Öjebyn to the list of their many antenna locations.

Astra Space’s first orbital launch with operational payloads failed to deliver four satellites to orbit due to an issue after main engine cut off. The company said they would provide an update after reviewing data working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Previously, the mission was scrubbed twice within a five-day period due to a radar system, and then a telemetry issue.

On November 14th of last year, Russia deliberately destroyed one of its satellites as a test of a new anti-satellite weapon (ASAT). According to a US State Department press briefing, “this test has so far generated over fifteen hundred pieces of trackable orbital debris and will likely generate hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris.”

Dawn Aerospace announced it is providing satellite propulsion systems to hyperspectral Earth imaging company Pixxel, who is building a health monitor for the planet through a constellation of hyperspectral imaging small satellites. The constellation will provide productivity and environmental data and will benefit industries such as agriculture, resources, energy, and sustainability.

Up to 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites launched last Thursday will re-enter, or have already done so, due to a geomagnetic storm, SpaceX reported. A coronal mass ejection hit Earth’s magnetic field two days before launch but the weak impact did not trigger remarkable geomagnetic activity.