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Vega | ADM-Aeolus
Arianespace | FRA#Aeolus
Aug. 21, 2018, 9:20 p.m.
Earth Science
ADM-Aeolus is an Earth observation satellite build by Airbus Defense and Space for ESA. Its goal is to directly observe wind profiles from space on a global scale and provide data that could improve weather forecasting and advance understanding of atmospherics dynamics and climate. The Aeolus satellite weighs around 1366 kg and will fly in low sun-synchronous orbit at about 400 km altitude. There it will be monitoring weather around the world for 3 years.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Telstar 18 VANTAGE
SpaceX | USAAug. 24, 2018, 3:33 a.m.
Communications
Telstar 18 VANTAGE, or Telstar 18V, is a communications satellite built by Space Systems Loral for the canadian satellite operator Telesat. The satellite is to be provide coverage to the Asia Pacific region.
Long March 3B / YZ-1 | Beidou-3 M11 & Beidou-3 M12
China Aerospace Corporation | CHNAug. 25, 2018, midnight
LauncherOne | Test Flight
Virgin Orbit | USAAug. 31, 2018, midnight
Astrophysics
X-Ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM) is a replacement for the Hitomi satellite that malfunctioned few weeks after the launch. Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar probe that will target a landing on a small crater in Mare Nectaris, an area located near the moon’s equator on the side facing Earth.
Ariane 5 ECA | Azerspace-2/Intelsat-38 & Horizons 3e
Arianespace | FRASept. 7, 2018, 9:56 p.m.
Communications
Azercosmos-2/Intelsat-38 is a geostationary telecommunications satellite. As the name suggests, satellite will be used jointly by Azercosmos and Intelsat. Horizons-3e, also known as IS-H3e, is a high throughput geostationary communications satellite ordered by Horizons Satellite, a joint venture of Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Group. The spacecraft is designed and manufactured by Boeing on the Boeing-702MP platform.
Delta IV Heavy
Parker Solar Probe - Successful Launch
Flying into the Sun’s atmosphere (or corona) for the first time. Coming closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe will employ a combination of in situ measurements and imaging to achieve the mission’s primary scientific goal: to understand how the Sun’s corona is heated and how the solar wind is accelerated.
Falcon 9
Merah Putih (Telkom-4) - Successful Launch
Telkom-4, also known as Merah Putih, is an Indonesian geostationary communications satellite. It will replace the aging Telkom-1 satellite.
Long March 4B
Gaofen-11 - Successful Launch
The Gaofen-11 satellite is believed to be a Earth-imaging satellite that Chinese state media claims, "can be used for land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief".
Long March 3B / YZ-1
Beidou-3 M5 & Beidou-3 M6 - Successful Launch
The two satellites will be used to provide global navigation coverage as part of the Chinese Beidou (Compass) satellite navigation system.
Falcon 9
Iridium-7 - Successful Launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low Earth orbit for Iridium, a global leader in mobile voice and data satellite communications. This is the seventh set of 10 satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT.
