IMAGING & UAV

SpaceX launches next-generation Italian COSMO-SkyMed satellite

The third satellite part of the COSMOSkyMed Second Generation (CSG) constellation, owned by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense, built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) and operated in orbit by Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), has successfully been launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California (USA), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

COSMO-SkyMed is a dual-use Earth observation constellation owned by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Italian Ministry of Defense. Regarding the development of the constellation, the Italian industry plays a leading role with Leonardo and the joint ventures Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and e-GEOS, plus with a significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises. This third Second Generation satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space like the other satellites in the constellation, will guarantee the operational continuity of radar (SAR, Synthetic-Aperture Radar) services, further enhancing the already high performance of the system in terms of image quality and area coverage. www.thalesgroup.com

Chinese state and private rockets fail on same day

Chinese space companies experienced two rocket launch failures in a single day. The incidents occurred as the country accelerates its “space rise” ambitions, with some quarters even referring to the day as a “black Saturday.”The state-owned space enterprise China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced via social media on the 17th that “a Long March 3B carrier rocket was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 00:55 on the same day to deploy a satellite, but the mission failed.” The rocket’s first and second stages flew normally, but an anomaly occurred in the third stage. “The specific cause is under further analysis and investigation,” it added.

This marks the first failure of the Long March 3B carrier rocket since April 2020. Since its debut in 1996, the Long March 3B has been launched over 115 times, with approximately five failures. www.chosun.com

Japan’s H3 rocket fails to deploy geolocation satellite

Japan’s space agency said its H3 rocket carrying a navigation satellite failed to put the payload into a planned orbit, a setback for the country’s new flagship rocket and its space launch program. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki 5 satellite took off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island as part of Japan’s plans to have a more precise location positioning system of its own.

The rocket’s second-stage engine burn unexpectedly had a premature cutoff and a subsequent separation of the satellite from the rocket could not be confirmed, Masashi Okada, a JAXA executive and launch director, told a news conference. Whether the satellite was released into space or where it ended up is unknown, and that JAXA is investigating the data to determine the cause and other details, Okada said. apnews.com

MICE-1 successfully launched

The Transporter-15 mission by SpaceX successfully launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. As part of the mission, MICE-1 (Maritime Identification and Communications system was successfully deployed into orbit. MICE-1 is the first Greek nanosatellite specifically designed for maritime and IoT communication applications. It aims to bring Greek shipping—and critical operational infrastructures in disaster scenarios—closer to the capabilities of space. prismael.com

Wingcopter drones to be deployed for aerial surveying in Japan

Wingcopter’s authorized partner in Japan, ITOCHU Corporation, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the practical use of Wingcopter’s long-range drones in aerial surveying together with PASCO Corporation and YellowScan Japan Co., Ltd. The companies initially plan to use the Wingcopter 198 in disaster management where drone-based surveying is playing an increasingly important role. Carrying out these tasks is way easier and less risky with fixed-wing drones such as the Wingcopter 198 than with traditional human or aircraft-based methods, especially as about 70 percent of Japan’s land consists of mountainous and hilly terrain, with steep slopes and short, fastflowing rivers. Conventional multicopter drones, on the other hand, would not be suitable for such tasks as they are limited in range and coverage compared to the Wingcopter 198. wingcopter.com

Enhancing precision and safety in BVLOS drone deliveries

Trimble has announced that Volatus Aerospace Inc. has integrated the Trimble PX-1 RTX™ solution into its commercial delivery drone service to achieve accurate and robust positioning and heading. This provides Volatus’ clients with a turnkey solution for highly-accurate aerial data acquisition and fully-remote drone operations in real-world missions, including beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Volatus must meet strict guidelines addressing airspace entry and exit, altitude and speed, and communication and remote identification when taking off from and landing at the Edmonton International Airport in Alberta, Canada. The flight corridor approved by Transport Canada and Nav Canada requires them to land and takeoff with precision, while staying at 50-feet altitude when crossing airplane arrival routes. Trimble PX-1 RTX’s precise positioning capabilities address crucial accuracy challenges for takeoff and landing, while supporting an exact flight altitude and positioning within the flight corridor. www.trimble.com