Two Orbital Sciences' B-Sat communications satellites built for Japan have reached major milestones, the company reported at the show. B-Sat 1 has completed its in-orbit checkout and B-Sat 2 has arrived at Kourou for its launch aboard an Ariane 5, riding with the European Space Agency's Artemis satellite in July.
Booster
Orbital has also denied that the launch failure of a modified OSC Pegasus XL booster carrying NASA's first X-43A scramjet demonstration vehicle on 2 June may have been caused by negligence during the stage's assembly. "There is no validity in that report which is based on an Internet rumour and we will have to wait correctly until the investigation board has completed its work," says Barron Beneski, director of the company¹s corporate communications.
Source: Flight Daily News
