OBSERVATION SATELLITE LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT BY CHINA - China sent into orbit a clandestine remote sensing satellite Wednesday during a launch that was announced less than a day in advance. A Long March 2C rocket blasted off at 0255 GMT Wednesday from the Taiyuan space base in northern China's Shanxi province. The two-stage booster, propelled by a noxious mix of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, deftly guided the secret Yaogan 6 satellite into orbit, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Tracking data indicate the rocket achieved a sun-synchronous orbit with an average altitude of about 300 miles.    More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Apr 23)

NATO SATELLITE LAUNCHED ON RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN ROCKET - A NATO communications satellite was launched into orbit Monday aboard a Russian-Ukrainian rocket from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean, space officials said. "The SICRAL 1B satellite was launched at 0816 GMT and successfully placed into orbit," a spokeswoman for the Russian mission control centre outside Moscow, Irina Manshilina, told AFP    More
(Source: Space Daily - Apr 21)

INDIA LAUNCHES KEY SPY SATELLITE - India says it has successfully launched a spy satellite that will be able to track movement on its borders. The Israeli-built Radar Imaging Satellite was launched from the space centre at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state. The satellite was carried on the Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV-C12 rocket. India has an ambitious space programme that last October saw its first unmanned mission to the Moon.    More
(Source: BBC News - Apr 20)

PSLV-C-12 TO PUT TWO SATELLITES IN ORBIT - The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C-12) carrying two satellites will soar into the sky at 6.45 a.m. on Monday from the spaceport at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It will put in orbit a radar imaging satellite called RISAT-2 and Anusat, a 38-kg. experimental mini communication satellite built by Anna University, Chennai. S. Satish, spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said the 48-hour countdown for the lift-off began at 6.45 a.m. on Saturday and filling the fourth stage of the vehicle with liquid propellants was under way. “Everything is proceeding smoothly,” he said.   More
(Source: The Hindu - Apr 19)

NAVIGATION SATELLITE DEPLOYED IN CHINESE LAUNCH - China launched a new member of its budding satellite navigation system Tuesday, the first of up to 10 such spacecraft scheduled to be added by the end of next year. The Compass G2 satellite blasted off at 1616 GMT (12:16 p.m. EDT) from the Xichang launch base in southwestern China's Sichuan province, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. A Long March 3C booster deployed the navigation satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit with a high point of about 22,250 miles, a low point of about 125 miles and an inclination of 20.5 degrees, according to tracking data.    More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Apr 15)

IRAN PLANS TO SEND BIGGER SATELLITE INTO SPACE - Iran plans to send a bigger satellite into space on a rocket with a range of up to 1,500 km (930 miles), President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, in comments that may spark further Western concern. Iran launched a domestically made satellite into orbit for the first time in February, a step that worried Western powers which fear the Islamic Republic is seeking to build a nuclear bomb and missile delivery systems.    More
(Source: Reuters UK - Apr 15)

WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED TO REPAIR ROCKET LEAK - A countdown simulation for the upcoming Delta 4 rocket launch carrying a next-generation weather satellite has uncovered a liquid oxygen leak on the booster's first stage, a problem that will delay liftoff at least a couple of weeks. Officials announced Friday that the launch would slip from April 28 to mid-May as a result. Standing atop pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Delta 4 underwent a full launch day rehearsal Wednesday. The mobile service tower was rolled back and the two-stage rocket was filled with supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen while the launch team practiced the countdown procedures.    More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Apr 11)

S. KOREA PLANS SATELLITE LAUNCH - As North Korea keeps the world's militaries worried with what it claims was a satellite-launch attempt, South Korea is quietly preparing its first satellite mission for a July launch date. Lee Joo-jin, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, told a Washington audience late last week that the first Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1) is scheduled to launch a 100-kilogram (220-pound) scientific satellite into low Earth orbit in July.    More
(Source: Aviation Week - Apr 9)

NORAD AND USNORTHCOM MONITOR NORTH KOREAN LAUNCH - North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday which passed over the Sea of Japan/East Sea and the nation of Japan. Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan.    More
(Source: U.S. Northern Command - Apr 5)

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