---

Welcome to SatelliteHome, an online community where members may discuss from a wide variety of North American satellite related topics including satellite television, satellite radio along with other television sources such as OTA or IPTV.  SatelliteHome was founded in order to provide a friendly helpful atmosphere of members helping members without resorting to unnecessary heavy handed moderation...

---

Tethers Unlimited says early results of deorbit hardware test promising

Hoyt said observations from the U.S. military’s Space Surveillance Network showed the Prox-1 satellite deorbiting more than 24 times faster than before deploying the tape. 
SpaceNews.com

                        WASHINGTON — The first of four small satellites currently flying with Tethers Unlimited’s  experimental deorbit module on board began its slow descent last fall and is coming down according to plan, spacecraft hardware company Tethers Unlimited said Jan. 21.
Observations from the U.S. military’s Space Surveillance Network show the Prox-1 satellite deorbiting more than 24 times faster than before deploying the tape. Credit: Tethers Unlimited.
Prox-1, a 71-kilogram cubesat that launched into a low Earth orbit in June on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, successfully deployed a 70-meter length of conductive tape in September that is creating enough drag to deorbit the satellite much sooner than simp...

---

EU reserves four Ariane 6 rockets for Galileo navigation satellites

The European Commission has “pre-booked” four launches using Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket.
SpaceNews.com

                        WASHINGTON — The European Commission has “pre-booked” four launches using Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket.
EC Commissioner Thierry Breton, in a speech transcript released Jan. 22, said the European Union stands ready to aggregate its space missions for European launches and views support of the Ariane 6 and Vega C rockets as a “central” priority. 
“The Commission was the first institutional client of Ariane 6,” Breton said. “And we just pre-booked four other Ariane 6 to anticipate the future needs of Galileo.”
Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël tweeted Jan. 22 that the four rockets will be the lighter of the two Ariane 6 configurations, the 62, which has two strap-on boosters. The launches will start in 2022, and a first down payment has been received, Israël...