MALFUNCTIONING COMPONENT DELAYS SATELLITE LAUNCH - Kirtland AFB NM (SPX) Jan 16, 2009 Air Force officials here are delaying the launch of Tactical Satellite-3 until repairs to a spacecraft avionics component, critical to the system's operational capability, are complete. Although scheduled to launch in late January, the program team is working with the manufacturer to resolve the problem. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate here administers the satellite program, known as TacSat-3. When ready, the TacSat-3 launch will occur at NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 16)

JAPAN ROCKET TO LAUNCH SOUTH KOREAN SATELLITE - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Monday it had received an order from South Korea's aerospace agency to launch one if its satellites, marking the first time a Japanese rocket will carry a foreign satellite. The launch of South Korea's KOMPSAT-3 satellite, designed to take images of the Earth, will be in Japan in 2011 or 2012, Mitsubishi Heavy (7011.T), the country's biggest machinery maker, said in a statement.    More
(Source: Reuters - Jan 12)

DISCOVERY READY TO ROLL TOWARD VAB - The first of six planned space shuttle missions in 2009 kicks off in earnest this week with Discovery's placement on a launch platform. Kennedy Space Center workers early Wednesday are scheduled to roll the orbiter a quarter mile from its processing hangar to the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.    More
(Source: FloridaToday.com - Jan 6)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES THREE NEW GLONASS NAVIGATION SATELLITES - Russia's Federal Space Agency has successfully launched three new Glonass navigation and positioning satellites from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Proton-M rocket. After the latest launch on Dec. 25, Glonass - Russia's equivalent of the U.S. GPS system - counts 20 satellites, enough to cover Russia's entire territory with a positioning accuracy of up to 1 meter, Sergei Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of technology, said in televised remarks Dec. 25.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 30)

RUSSIA TO SET WORLD RECORD WITH 39 SPACE LAUNCHES IN 2009 - Russia is planning to set a world record by conducting a total of 39 space launches in 2009 despite the current global financial crisis, the head of the Russian Space Agency said on Monday. "We have scheduled a record number of launches for next year. We are planning to carry out 39 launches, half of them commercial and civilian satellites," Anatoly Perminov said. Russia conducted 27 space launches in 2008 and 26 launches in 2007, becoming the world's leader in this sphere.    More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Dec 30)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES 3 NAVIGATION SATELLITES - Russia's space agency says it has successfully launched three satellites to enhance its equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System. The space agency says three GLONASS-M satellites have been put into orbit by a Proton-M rocket that blasted off from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan. The agency said the satellites launched Thursday will join Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS.   More
(Source: Associated Press - Dec 26)

CHINA SUCCESSFULLY ORBITS ITS 3RD WEATHER SATELLITE - China has successfully orbited its third meteorological satellite, the Fengyun-2-06, the country's central television CCTV reported on Tuesday. The satellite was launched from the XiChang Satellite Launch Center, in southwest China at 08:54 a.m. local time (00:54 a.m. GMT) on board a Chang Zheng-3A carrier rocket. The Fengyun-2-06 weather satellite will collect meteorological data from the previously orbited satellites and replace its outdated predecessor, the Fengyun-2-C, orbited in 2004. China launched its second weather satellite, the Fengyun 2-D, in 2006.    More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Dec 23)

TWO EUROPEAN COMMUNICATION SATELLITES PUT IN ORBIT - A European Ariane-5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Saturday to put two satellites into orbit for the European telecoms operator Eutelsat (ETL.PA), officials said. The rocket was launched from Europe's space base in Kourou on the northeast coast of South America at 7:35 p.m. (2235 GMT).   More
(Source: Reuters - Dec 22)

SRO'S COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATION SATELLITE LAUNCHED - A state of the art communication satellite, W2M, built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched on Sunday at 0405 hrs (IST) by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana. 32 minutes after its lift-off, W2M separated from Ariane-5, after reaching its intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Radio signals transmitted by W2M were successfully received by ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka and the satellite’s health is normal   More
(Source: The Hindu - Dec 22)

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