SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH DELAYED UNTIL SUNDAY - NASA mission managers decided Friday to push the space shuttle Atlantis' scheduled Saturday launch to Sunday afternoon. The liftoff is now scheduled for 3:21 p.m. Sunday and managers were still meeting to discuss final details of the plan, Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Beutel said. More (Source: CNN.com - Dec 8)
SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ON TRACK FOR THURSDAY LAUNCH - NASA's shuttle Atlantis and a massive European laboratory are on track for their planned Thursday launch toward the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis' seven-astronaut crew is slated to liftoff from a seaside launch pad here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) spaceport at 4:31 p.m. EST (2131 GMT), with a 90 percent chance of pristine weather conditions. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 6)
CONDITIONS RIGHT FOR SHUTTLE LAUNCH: NASA - NASA on Tuesday said conditions were right for this week's launch of the shuttle Atlantis, as it prepared for its mission to deliver a European-built space laboratory to the orbiting International Space Station. "Our preparations ... are going exceptionally well for the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis to the ISS," NASA official Steve Paine told reporters, adding that there were so far "no technical issues" to impede a smooth liftoff Thursday. More (Source: AFP - Dec 5)
KOREAN MILITARY LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE SYSTEM - The Korean military will be able to remotely command its vessels and aircraft operating thousands of kilometers away from the country thanks to a new satellite communications system. The system will cover a diameter of 12,000 km, ranging as far east as the Marshall Islands and west as the Strait of Malacca, and from northern Australia to northern Siberia. More (Source: Chosun Ilbo - Dec 5)
ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE FOR THURSDAY LAUNCH - Seven astronauts arrived for the start of countdown to Thursday's space shuttle launch as NASA wrapped up repairs on Atlantis' fuel tank. Damage was discovered Friday to the insulating foam on the shuttle's 15-story external tank. NASA doesn't know how or when the gouges to the foam occurred, but the damage is considered minor. More (Source: CNN.com - Dec 3)
EUROPEAN SATELLITE PROJECT - The European Union salvaged its most prominent investment project, agreeing to divert 2.4 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of public money to bail out its struggling satellite navigation project, Galileo. Intended to rival the Global Positioning System developed by the United States, Galileo has struggled with money difficulties... More (Source: New York Times - Dec 2)
SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD - After safely reaching its launch pad Saturday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the space shuttle Atlantis now awaits its next major milestone for the upcoming STS-122 mission. The full launch dress rehearsal is scheduled from Nov. 18 to 20 at Kennedy. More (Source: About.com - Nov 27)
SPACEDEV SOLAR ARRAY ACTUATORS LAUNCH ABOARD WORLDVIEW-1 SATELLITE - SpaceDev, Inc. announced today the first flight of its new solar array rotational drive assemblies (SADA) and drive control electronics (DCE) aboard the Digitalglobe WorldView-1 satellite, launched September 18th from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SpaceDev produced the SADA and DCE under subcontract to Ball Aerospace. The system was commissioned shortly after the spacecraft reached orbit. More (Source: CNN Money - Nov 27)
SECOND BELARUSIAN SATELLITE TO BLAST OFF LATE 200 - Belarus's second satellite will be launched from Russia's Plesetsk space center in late 2009, the head of Belarusian company Geoinformational Systems said on Thursday. Belarus launched its first satellite, Belka, in July 2006. However, a Dnepr rocket carrying the Belarusian satellite, along with several international satellites, crashed shortly after lift off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, due to a first stage engine shutdown. More (Source: RIA Novosti - Nov 23)
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