NORWEGIAN SATELLITE TO LAUNCH IN AUGUST - The first Norwegian satellite is to be launched this summer in order to keep track of maritime activities in the High North. The AIS (Automatic Identification System) is used by ships and Vessel Traffic Services around the world as a short-range coastal traffic system. Every seagoing ship weighing 300 tonnes or more must be fitted with the technology to allow authorities to track movements and to avoid collisions with other boats. Modern systems also allow ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communication via VHF signals, although this is only currently possible within the field of vision. More (Source: IceNews - Jul 5)
PSLV TO BE LAUNCHED ON JULY 12 - After a two-month delay, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) is ready for a launch on July 12 from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The flight was to take place on May 9 but was postponed because of a drop in the pressure in the vehicle's second stage. More (Source: The Hindu - Jul 4)
NEW US SATELLITE TO MONITOR DEBRIS IN EARTH ORBIT - A new U.S. Air Force satellite will provide the first full-time, space-based surveillance of hundreds of satellites and thousands of pieces of debris that could crash into American and allied assets circling the Earth. If all goes as planned, the Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite, scheduled for a July 8 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., will have an unobstructed, around-the-clock view of the increasingly heavy traffic in Earth orbit — something the Air Force doesn't have now. More (Source: The Associated Press - Jul 4)
RUSSIAN SUPPLY SHIP DOCKS AT SPACE STATION ON 2ND TRY - An unmanned Russian cargo ship that missed its first chance to dock at the International Space Station last week tried again Sunday – this time successfully linking up with the orbiting lab. The Progress 38 cargo ship docked flawlessly at 12:17 p.m. EDT (1617 GMT) while flying without the safety net of a remote control system that allows cosmonauts inside the space station to take command of incoming supply ships using a joystick should they veer off course. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 4)
SUPPLY SHIP FAILS TO DOCK WITH SPACE STATION - Russian Mission Control says an unmanned space capsule bring supplies to the International Space Station has failed in a docking attempt. The Progress space capsule is carrying food, water, food and other supplies for the orbiting laboratory. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin was not immediately available for comment, but his secretary confirmed Russian media reports Friday that the docking had failed. It was not immediately clear when another docking might be attempted. More (Source: The Associated Press - Jul 3)
NASA EXTENDS ITS SHUTTLE COUNTDOWN - The end of the space shuttle era will end a little later. NASA announced Thursday that the launching of the last space shuttle flight was now intended for early next year. With two flights remaining, the shuttles had been scheduled to be retired by September. But the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which was to be taken to the International Space Station next month, ran into technical difficulties, pushing that mission to late November. That flight has now been further pushed back, to Feb. 26, 2011. More (Source: New York Times - Jul 3)
RESUPPLY SHIP FOR THE SPACE STATION SOARS INTO ORBIT - A load of basic essentials for the International Space Station and its resident crew -- food, fuel and supplies -- launched aboard a Russian-made cargo freighter today. The Progress spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), soaring into a clear sky at sundown. At the moment of launch, the station was flying about 220 miles over the South Atlantic. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Jul 1)
BOEING BUILDING SPACE SHUTTLE REPLACEMENT - As NASA's space shuttle fleet draws close to retirement, aerospace juggernaut Boeing is hard at work developing a new capsule-based spaceship to fly people to and from the International Space Station. The new Boeing space capsule is a project using the company's recent $18 million award from NASA to advance the concepts and technology necessary to build a commercial crew space transportation system. It is one of several efforts by different U.S. companies to come with new spaceships to fill the void left by NASA's retiring shuttles. More (Source: Fox News - Jun 30)
GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE BY KOREA REACHES ORBIT - Korea’s first geostationary satellite has successfully reached Earth’s orbit after being launched from Guiana Space Center in French Guiana yesterday morning, the government said yesterday. The communication, ocean and meteorological satellite (COMS) is Korea’s 12th satellite. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said an Ariane 5-ECA rocket carrying the Korean satellite, which is named Chollian, successfully launched at 6:41 a.m. Korean time after being delayed several times on Thursday and Friday by minor technical problems. More (Source: JoongAng Daily - Jun 29)
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