SPACE STATION DODGES ORBITAL JUNK - The International Space Station fired its rocket engines to dodge space junk for the first time in five years on Wednesday. According to a daily NASA status report, the European-built cargo ship Jules Verne docked at the station’s aft end fired its rocket engines in a 5-minute, 2-second maneuver to avoid the potential collision with a piece of orbital trash. More (Source: LiveScience - Aug 29)
HURRICANE COULD DELAY SHUTTLE LAUNCH - he long-anticipated Hubble Telescope repair mission could be delayed by Hurricane Gustav, watchful NASA officials told ABCNews.com. he Space Shuttle Atlantis is supposed to roll out to the launch pad just after midnight Saturday, but not if bad weather is headed anywhere near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More (Source: ABC News - Aug 27)
IRAN PLANS TO LAUNCH TELECOMS SATELLITE - Iran plans to launch a telecommunications satellite, the president said on Saturday, using missile technology the West fears is being developed to fire nuclear warheads. Iran said last Sunday it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a domestically made rocket for the first time, although U.S. officials said the attempted launch was a failure. More (Source: Reuters - Aug 24)
ILS PROTON SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES INMARSAT-4 F3 SATELLITE - A Proton Breeze M launch vehicle successfully lifted the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite into orbit today, marking the third mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). The Proton Breeze M vehicle, built by Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow, lifted off from Pad 39 at the cosmodrome at 4:43 today local time (18:43 EDT Monday, 22:43 GMT Monday). After a 9-hour-3-minute mission, the launcher released the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. More (Source: SpaceRef - Aug 24)
IRAN SATELLITE LAUNCH A FAILURE, U.S. OFFICIALS SAY - Iran's attempted satellite launch was a failure that fell far short of claimed successes, U.S. security officials said on Tuesday, but an analyst said the test still marked progress toward a potential weapon. "The attempted launch failed," a U.S. intelligence official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. More (Source: Reuters - Aug 20)
IRAN SPARKS US CONCERN WITH SATELLITE ROCKET LAUNCH - Iran said it had sent a rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space on Sunday, triggering fresh concern in Washington that the technology could be diverted to ballistic missiles. The launch is likely to further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive, which Iran's arch-foe Washington and its allies claim is a cover for atomic weapons ambitions. More (Source: AFP - Aug 17)
SUPERBIRD-7 + AMC-21 UP, UP & AWAY TO ORBITAL SLOTS - A successful launch has placed the Superbird-7 and AMC-21 telecommunications satellites into accurate geostationary transfer orbits. This was the 9th mission performed by Ariane 5s in a 12-month period, during which the workhorse vehicles carried 16 civilian and military telecommunications satellites along with the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station. More (Source: SatNews.com - Aug 17)
JAPAN GETS FIRST HOME-GROWN COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced Friday that it had successfully launched Japan's first domestically produced commercial communications satellite. The Superbird-7 blasted into space on a launcher made by European consortium Arianespace earlier in the day from the Guiana Space Center, before successfully separating from the rocket, the company said in a statement. More (Source: AFP - Aug 15)
NASA WON'T LAUNCH FALL SHUTTLE MISSIONS EARLY - NASA mission managers decided Thursday not to push for earlier launch dates for two space shuttle missions set to blast off this fall. The shuttle Atlantis will remain on track for a planned Oct. 8 launch to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope while its sister ship Endeavour will continue toward a Nov. 10 liftoff to the International Space Station, NASA spokesperson Kyle Herring told SPACE.com. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 15)
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