The successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy space launch vehicle (SLV) on 6 February, 2018, is a major milestone in spaceflight and space exploration. It is also a green light for the launch of the Arabsat-6A communications satellite in the coming months aboard a Falcon Heavy SLV. “Arabsat-6A positioned at …
Read More »UAE’s KhalifaSat Earth Observation Satellite Nears Completion, Receives Royal Seal of Approval
The first satellite to be indigenously built by Emirati engineers is nearing completion, and will be launched by Japan later this year. KhalifaSat, an Earth observation satellite that is being built by the Dubai-based Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), was inspected by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, …
Read More »Iran Set To Launch Four Satellites Soon, Warns of Parallel IRGC Space Programme
Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, told a space conference in Tehran on 3 February, 2018, that an Iranian satellite is ready to launch, and three others are in their pre-launch procedures. Jahromi also told his audience that Iran has made “great headways in developing …
Read More »Japan Launches Cubesat to Orbit With World’s Smallest Rocket, Enters Small Sat Launch Market
Following on the heels of the successful Rocket Labs Electron rocket launch from New Zealnd on 20 January, 2018, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched on 3 February, 2018, a 3 kilogram Cubesat into low Earth orbit using the smallest rocket ever to launch a satellite into …
Read More »Indian Space Programme to be Featured at Dubai’s World Government Summit
Dr. Koppillil Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, and Dr. D. Gowrisankar, ISRO’s Deputy Director for International Cooperation, will make a presentation on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission at the World Government Summit in Dubai later this month. Dr. K. Sivan, current Chairman of ISRO, told a …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Op’ed: Australia – The Quiet Achiever in Space
Australia is no emerging space nation. In fact, its history in space goes all the way back to the 1950s and it has quietly worked to make achievements in the industry that are both consistent and significant. However, when the International Astronautical Congress was held in Adelaide last year, Australia …
Read More »Al Yah-3 Not In Right Orbit But Will Still Operate
After a fraught launch on January 25, 2018, where Arianespace failed to receive telemetry from the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) at a critical stage during liftoff, the two satellites placed into Earth orbit by the launcher are said to be recoverable. Both Yahsat and SES have stated that …
Read More »Early Indications Suggest Successful Al Yah-3 Launch, Opening New Markets
Early indications suggest that Arianespace has successfully launched Yahsat’s Al Yah-3 and SES’s SES-14 communications satellites into geostationary orbit. The launch, designated VA241 by Arianespace, was conducted by an Ariane 5 space launch vehicle from the Kourou space launch centre in French Guiana, located in Latin America. An Arianespace press …
Read More »UAE’s Yahsat Prepares for Al Yah-3 SATCOM Launch
Arianespace have completed the integration of Yahsat’s Al Yah-3 communications satellite to the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) that is due to launch it and another satellite on January 25, 2018, from the Kourou launch facility in French Guiana. The other satellite, SES-14, belonging to satellite communications provider SES, …
Read More »Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Three Satellites from New Zealand
Rocket Lab has successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing. Electron lifted-off at 14:43 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Following successful first and second stage burns, Electron reached orbit and deployed customer …
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