EUTELSAT DOUBLES ITS BROADCASTING RESOURCES AT 9 DEGREES - Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announces the entry into commercial service of its EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite at 9 degrees East. Redeployment of the satellite was made possible with last week’s entry into service at 13 degrees East of HOT BIRD™ 9, which released EUROBIRD™ 9A (formerly HOT BIRD™ 7A) for its new commercial mission to support the rapid pace of growth at Eutelsat’s 9 degrees East broadcast neighbourhood. It will replace EUROBIRD™ 9 at this position, doubling operational resources from 20 to 38 transponders. More (Source: Eutelsat - Feb 26)
MARCH LAUNCH OF DISCOVERY POSSIBLE, BUT NOT CERTAIN - NASA managers today ordered engineers to replace suspect hydrogen flow control valves aboard the shuttle Discovery with valves that have less flight time in a bid to reduce the chances of in-flight cracks that could lead to debris in a pressurization line. If ongoing tests and higher fidelity computer models continue to show positive results, Discovery could be cleared for a delayed launch attempt by around March 12, sources said today. That would give NASA just two or three launch opportunities before standing down until April 7 to avoid conflict with a Russian Soyuz mission to the international space station. More (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Feb 25)
CHINA TO LAUNCH SATELLITE FOR FRANCE'S EUTELSAT - China's rocket industry has scored a commercial coup with its first deal in more than a decade to launch a private communications satellite for a major Western operator, according to U.S. and European industry officials. The agreement to put a five-ton satellite for France's Eutelsat Communications into orbit, apparently wrapped up in the past few days, represents a high-water mark for Beijing's campaign to expand the scope and global influence of Chinese space technology. More (Source: The Wall Street Journal - Feb 25)
NASA SATELLITE CRASHES MINUTES AFTER LAUNCH - A NASA satellite crashed back to Earth about three minutes after launch early Tuesday, officials said. "We could not make orbit," NASA program manager John Brunschwyler said. "Initial indications are the vehicle did not have enough [force] to reach orbit and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean." "Certainly for the science community, it's a huge disappointment." More (Source: CNN - Feb 24)
NORTH KOREA PLANS ROCKET LAUNCH THAT SOUTH CALLS ‘PROVOCATION’ - North Korea plans to launch a satellite, drawing condemnation from South Korea’s defense minister, who said the regime may instead be preparing a long- range missile test. Preparations for the launch of an “experimental communications satellite” are making “brisk headway,” the official Korea Central News Agency said today, citing an unidentified spokesman from the national space agency. More (Source: Bloomberg.com - Feb 24)
NASA DELAYS SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH A FOURTH TIME - NASA delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery for a fourth time on Friday amid valve concerns, and managers are uncertain when the flight will take place. Following a 13-hour meeting at Kennedy Space Center, shuttle managers decided against launching next week. The launch had been targeted for no sooner than Feb. 27; no new date was set. Officials said they believe they have a realistic shot at launching Discovery to the international space station before mid-March. After that, the shuttle would have to get in line behind a Russian Soyuz launch with a new space station crew, and the next opportunity for Discovery would be after April 6. More (Source: Associated Press - Feb 23)
NASA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST CARBON-TESTING SATELLITE TO MEASURE GREENHOUSE GAS - NASA plans to launch a satellite Monday that will measure concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere, providing scientists with the most complete and precise set of measurements yet of the greenhouse gas. The mission's purpose is to map global CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, which scientists can use to pinpoint sources of CO2 emissions and areas where CO2 is being removed from the air through absorption, called "sinks." Currently, researchers make only about one hundred measurements per week of atmospheric CO2 from sites around the globe, primarily by hand-filling empty vials with air and shipping them back to laboratories to be tested. I More (Source: NewsHour - Feb 23)
GEOEYE SATELLITE GETS FULL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY CERTIFICATION - GeoEye Inc said its earth-imaging satellite GeoEye-1 received full operational capability certification from National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), sending its shares up more than 7 percent after the bell. GeoEye said it would begin delivering images to the agency on Feb. 23 and get a monthly revenue of $12.5 million. GeoEye-1, financed partly by a $500 million contract with the NGA, was launched in September 2008. Commercial operations started on Feb. 5 this year. More (Source: Reuters - Feb 23)
SATELLITE DEBRIS MAY FORCE NASA TO SCRUB SHUTTLE LAUNCH - The cloud of debris created by the collision of two satellites earlier this month may threaten an upcoming space shuttle Atlantis mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, according to a report in Nature News. Without the repair and maintenance mission, currently scheduled for May, the Hubble telescope's days could be numbered. Shuttle missions to the International Space Station, which orbits at an altitude of roughly 200 miles, would be far enough below the debris trails, at 500 miles up, to be considered safe. More (Source: Fox News - Feb 20)
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