ROCKET LAUNCHES AIR FORCE SATELLITE FROM FLA. - A rocket carrying an Air Force satellite that will be used by the military has launched from Cape Canaveral. The rocket blasted off Saturday evening after thick clouds, heavy rains and a system problem postponed two earlier attempts. The rocket is carrying the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM3 satellite. This is the last launch of a group of three satellites used by the military for strategic purposes. More (Source: The Associated Press - Dec 6)
DIRECTV'S HD SATELLITE SHIPPED TO LAUNCH SITE - Boeing announced yesterday that DIRECTV 12, a new satellite that promises to raise the satcaster's HD channel capacity to 200 channels, was shipped November 25 to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility in Kazakhstan. The satellite is expected to be launched by International Launch Services on December 29; if all goes well, it could be operational in 3-6 months after that. More (Source: TVPredictions.com - Dec 5)
SATELLITE DEBRIS MISSES SPACE STATION - A tiny piece of a defunct Russian satellite zipped by the International Space Station Tuesday, but was far enough away that outpost's two-man crew did not have to strap into their lifeboat to wait out the close shave, NASA officials said. The debris — a small piece of a Cosmos satellite less than four inches (10 cm) wide — zoomed by the station at 1:19 p.m. EST (1819 GMT) and came less than a mile (1 km) of the outpost at its closest point. More (Source: MSNBC - Dec 2)
INTELSAT 15 LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL - Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced today that a Zenit-3SLB vehicle successfully launched the Intelsat 15 satellite (IS-15) from the Land Launch facilities at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Liftoff occurred at 4:00 p.m. ET, followed by signal acquisition and spacecraft separation about six and a half hours later at 10:28 p.m. ET. More (Source: Intelsat - Dec 1)
DEBRIS THREAT MAY PUSH SPACE STATION CREW INTO ESCAPE POD - NASA is tracking a piece of space debris that may lead the international space station's two-man crew to move to an escape pod, a spokesman said Tuesday. NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said Mission Control on Monday night told the astronaut and cosmonaut aboard the station that it was tracking a piece of debris from a Russian Cosmos satellite that appears likely to come near the space station. More (Source: CNN - Dec 1)
STS-129 - SMOOTH AS GLASS - A space shuttle mission is an immensely complicated affair and to have a mission with few, if any, issues from start to finish is rare. STS-129 was such a mission. Launched right on time, accomplished everything that it was supposed to and then landed right on scheduled. To slips, scrubs or delays, (outside of the slight delay on the last spacewalk of the mission). Mission managers William Gerstnmaier, Mike Moses and Mike Leinbach had little to talk about in the post-flight press conference held shortly after Atlantis touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle-Landing-Facility, (SLF) at 9:44 a.m. EST. More (Source: Examiner.com - Nov 28)
JAPAN LAUNCHES 5TH SPY SATELLITE - A Zimbabwe-registered cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off Saturday from a Shanghai airport with seven crew members aboard, state media and witnesses said. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that four crew members, all foreigners, were injured. The status of the other three was not immediately clear. China Central Television showed billowing thick black smoke at the scene, with police officers blocking closer access. More (Source: The Associated Press - Nov 28)
PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR LAUNCH OF INTELSAT 15 SATELLITE - Preparations are moving forward at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan for the fourth Land Launch mission, the first of a satellite for Intelsat. Liftoff on November 29 is planned at 1:00 pm PT (21:00 GMT), for the Intelsat 15 satellite, at the start of a one-hour launch window. More (Source: Space Daily - Nov 27)
ATLANTIS LANDS IN FLORIDA - Space shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. at 9:44 a.m. EST, winding up the STS-129 mission that included three spacewalks and more than six days at the International Space Station. The orbiter took 14 tons of cargo in its payload bay, including two large carriers with spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year, to the orbiting laboratory. Atlantis also brought home Mission Specialist and former Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott, who spent 87 days on the International Space Station. Her return brings to an end nearly a decade of space shuttle use to rotate crew on the station. More (Source: NASA - Nov 27)
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