NEW CREWMATES AND TOURIST LAUNCH TO THE SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from Yuri Gagarin's launch pad in Kazakhstan Wednesday, carrying two fresh crew members and the founder of Cirque du Soleil on a voyage to the International Space Station. Under a cloudless blue sky, the Soyuz TMA-16 rumbled to life and soared away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:14:42 a.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the station's orbit.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Sep 30)

SWITZERLAND HAS SENT ITS FIRST SATELLITE INTO SPACE - The Indian launcher Polar Space Launch Vehicle took off at 8:22 a.m. - Swiss time. Twenty minutes later, the SwissCube was ejected from the nose cone of the rocket at an altitude of around 720 kilometers. At 9:37 a.m. the first ever signals sent from a Swiss satellite in space were picked up from Stanford (California). Mission accomplished.   More
(Source: Space Ref - Sep 27)

LAUNCH OF RUSSIAN SATELLITES DELAYED DUE TO GLITCH - Russia's space chief said Friday the launch of three satellites aimed at bolstering its planned GPS-type navigation system was delayed because of a malfunction in an earlier launched satellite, news agencies reported. The comments by Federal Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov signaled yet more problems for the Global Navigation Satellite System, which has faced repeated technical issues and delays.   More
(Source: BusinessWeek - Sep 26)

US SENDS 2 MISSILE DEFENSE SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - Two satellites are heading to orbit as part of a missile defense program demonstration. The pair was launched aboard a Delta 2 rocket on Friday morning as part of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System demonstration for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. According to Bob Bishop, media relations manager for satellite developer Northrop Grumman, the satellites will demonstrate technology that can detect infrared and visible light from missiles launched from earth. The space surveillance system will provide global tracking for the ballistic missile defense system.   More
(Source: The Associated Press - Sep 26)

INDIA LAUNCHES 7 SATELLITES - India has launched seven satellites from a single rocket, demonstrating its growing skills in multi-satellite launches. The success comes nearly a month after India had to end its inaugural Moon mission early. Within a space of 20 minutes, an Indian rocket placed one big satellite and six small ones into space from the Sriharikota space center in eastern India.   More
(Source: Voice of America - Sep 24)

PAN SATELLITE FINISHES ITS CLIMB TO GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT - The mystery communications spacecraft launched aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral earlier this month -- and pictured in this story -- has arrived in a geostationary orbit that views the Middle East, hobbyist satellite trackers report. Lockheed Martin built the satellite, simply called PAN, using its successful A2100 design and commercial know-how for an undisclosed U.S. government customer. The actual purpose of the spacecraft and the user have not been revealed.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Sep 23)

INDIA LAUNCHES SATELLITE FOR OCEAN STUDYSTORY HIGHLIGHTS - India on Wednesday launched a second satellite to study oceans. The cube-shaped Oceansat-2 will monitor the interaction between oceans and the atmosphere, as part of climate studies, according to the country's main space agency. The satellite, launched from India's southeast coast, carried six nanosatellites from European universities as auxiliary payloads, said the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).    More
(Source: CNN - Sep 23)

SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY BACK HOME IN FLORIDA - Space shuttle Discovery is finally back home in Florida following a cross-country journey and a trip to orbit. Discovery arrived at Kennedy Space Center at noon Monday atop a modified jumbo jet. The plane left Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in the morning. The flight actually began Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where Discovery ended its space station visit.    More
(Source: The Associated Press - Sep 22)

SOUTH AFRICAN AMATEUR RADIO PAYLOAD REACHES ORBIT - After several delays, South Africa's SumbandilaSat satellite finally blasted to orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 17. The main payload is a multi-spectral imager, but the satellite also carries an Amateur Radio component consisting of a 2 meter/70 cm FM repeater.    More
(Source: ARRL - Sep 18)

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