NORTH KOREA: 'SATELLITE WILL BE LAUNCHED SOON' - North Korea has completed preparations for launching what it says is "an experimental communications satellite," the reclusive nation's state news agency reported early Saturday. "The satellite will be launched soon," KCNA reported. How "soon" was anyone's guess. On Friday, President Obama reiterated that the United States strongly opposes any such launch. More (Source: CNN - Apr 4)
EUROPEAN TELECOMS SATELLITE PUT IN ORBIT - A European telecommunications satellite was successfully placed in orbit Saturday after being lifted into space aboard a Russian Proton-M rocket, the Ria-Novosti cited a Russian space agency official as saying. "The satellite detached from the launcher as planned" and is now under the control of Eutelsat, the Roskosmos official was quoted as saying. The Proton-M blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday with the Eutelsat W2A satellite is designed to transmit multimedia services, including television, to mobile phones and receivers fitted in vehicles. More (Source: AFP - Apr 4)
ATLAS 5 ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES MILITARY SATELLITE - It was a perfect Friday night flight for the Atlas 5 rocket, completing a military mission that put an advanced communications spacecraft into the sky to serve U.S. forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We only have one chance to get it right! In this profession you have to be meticulous to detail and patient to ensure mission success," said Capt. Jeffrey Fisher, the mission lead. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Apr 4)
INDIA PLANS TO TEST SPACE SHUTTLE IN NEXT 12 MONTHS - India has developed a space shuttle and plans to launch a prototype into the Earth's orbit in the next 12 months, officials said on Thursday. The disclosure marks yet another giant leap for India's space programme following last year's successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan 1, and a significant step towards India becoming a major player in space transportation. It hopes the shuttle will enable India to offer cut-price satellite launches and become a dominant player in the industry. Last night officials said if successful the shuttle may, in time, be used for other transport uses, but its main purpose now is to "reduce the cost of access to space." More (Source: Telegraph.co.uk - Apr 3)
NEW WEATHER SATELLITE TO HELP TRACK HURRICANES - A new satellite set to launch later this month from Cape Canaveral will help weather forecasters better predict hurricanes and will assist in pinpointing distress signals to trigger search-and-rescue operations. The $499 million GOES-O (geostationary operational environmental satellite) will orbit about 22,000 miles above the Earth, sending back high-resolution images for the next 10 years. ''This is really exciting. Hopefully, we'll see marked improvements in our ability to forecast,'' said Joe Schaefer, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center. ``It's going to guarantee the availability of state-of-the-art satellite data for the next decade.'' More (Source: MiamiHerald.com - Apr 3)
U.S., SATELLITE OPERATORS DISCUSS BETTER TRACKING - U.S. military officials and commercial satellite operators Thursday discussed better tracking of satellites to avert collisions like the one that destroyed a Russian and U.S. satellite in February, creating more space debris. The meeting, on the sidelines of the Space Foundation's National Space Symposium, is part of the U.S. Air Force's drive to improve tracking of objects in space. The Air Force said this week it would work with U.S. Strategic Command to expand satellite tracking by October 1 to all 800 maneuverable spacecraft now operating. More (Source: Reuters - Apr 3)
NORTH KOREA IS FUELING ROCKET, U.S. MILITARY SAYS - North Korea has begun fueling its long-range rocket, according to a senior U.S. military official. The fueling signals that the country could be in the final stages of what North Korea has said will be the launch of a satellite into space as early as this weekend, the senior U.S. military official said Wednesday. Other U.S. military officials said the top portion of the rocket was put on very recently, but satellite imagery shows a shroud over the stage preventing a direct view of what it looks like. More (Source: CNN - Apr 2)
ATLAS V/WGS-2 LAUNCH SET FOR APRIL 3 - The U.S. Air Force will launch the second Wideband Global Communications satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 here April 3. The launch window extends from 8:31 to 9:33 p.m. EDT. This will be the second attempt to launch the Atlas V. The launch team detected an anomalous leak rate in the Centaur upper stage oxidizer valve during a March 17 launch attempt. More (Source: Space Daily - Apr 2)
NORTH KOREA LAUNCH UNDERSCORES DEMAND FOR SPACE DATA - U.S. officials, poised to closely monitor North Korea's planned launch of a communications satellite, this week underscored the need for improved data about what is going on in space. Military officials said the United States needed to beef up its "space situational awareness," or ability to monitor satellites and debris floating around in space, but they gave few details on any spending plans. More (Source: Reuters - Apr 2)
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