INTELSAT CELEBRATES DOUBLE SUCCESS WITH ARIANE 5 LAUNCH - Two U.S.-built Intelsat communications satellites destined for different missions fired into space from French Guiana just after sunset Wednesday, vaulting due east over the Atlantic Ocean before separating from their Ariane 5 launcher right on target in geostationary transfer orbit. Running 21 minutes late after a boat ventured into restricted waters in the Atlantic Ocean, the dual-payload mission took off at 2216:08 GMT (6:16 p.m. EDT; 7:16 p.m. French Guiana time) from the ELA-3 launch pad at the French-run Guiana Space Center quickly climbed into the sky atop 2.9 million pounds of thrust, then steered eastward and picked up speed.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 25)

ESA’S PROBA-3 SATELLITE TO CREATE ITS OWN SOLAR ECLIPSE - A new satellite will launch to form a solar eclipse on its own. The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced its plan to launch the Proba-3, a double satellite that would allow them to induce solar eclipses. The satellite will be launched in 2019 with the goal of studying the Sun's corona. According to ESA officials, the Proba-3 will be composed of an "occulter" satellite will fly 150 m ahead of a second" coronagraph satellite, which will cast a precise shadow to reveal the "ghostly tendrils" of the corona - the sun's outer atmosphere - down to a measurement of 1.2 solar radii.   More
(Source: Nature World News - Aug 25)

TINY STELLENBOSCH SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH FROM ISS - Cape Town - It is ready, set, go for a nanosatellite developed in Stellenbosch that will be launched along with 49 others from the International Space Station (ISS) early in 2017. Weighing just 2kg, the ZA-Aerosat was developed by at Stellenbosch University's electronic systems laboratory by the university's engineers and incubation company CubeSpace. It was the only satellite to form part of the international QB50 project. The project involves launching 50 satellites, each smaller than a shoebox, from the space station to gather research on the largely unexplored lower thermosphere, between 200km and 400km above Earth.   More
(Source: News 24 - Aug 25)

FACEBOOK’S INTERNET SATELLITE SET TO BLAST INTO ORBIT SEPT. 3 - Facebook’s first satellite, which would beam Internet service from space to unconnected residents of Africa, is scheduled to blast off Sept. 3 aboard a rocket launched by SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk’s commercial space company. French satellite operator Eutelsat confirmed the launch date Wednesday, tweeting that the satellite would deliver a “powerful new broadband platform for Eutelsat and #Facebook in Africa.” Facebook representatives declined to comment, instead citing CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s October post announcing the Menlo Park company’s deal with Eutelsat and its plans to beam Internet access from space to “large parts of West, East and Southern Africa.”   More
(Source: San Francisco Chronicle - Aug 25)

ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH TWO INTELSAT COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - Arianespace is in the final stage of preparations to conduct its sixth mission of the year by launching two Intelsat communications satellites into orbit on Wednesday, Aug. 24. The spacecraft, designated Intelsat 33e and Intelsat 36, will take to the skies from the Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) in Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 booster. The launch window starts at 5:55 p.m. EDT (21:55 GMT) and extends for 45 minutes. The launch campaign started in mid-July with the arrival of the satellites in French Guiana. Intelsat 33e was shipped to the Guiana Space Center on July 21, while Intelsat 36 arrived at the center four days later.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Aug 23)

GOES-R WEATHER SATELLITE ARRIVES FOR NOVEMBER LAUNCH - The first in a new generation of national weather satellites arrived Monday on the Space Coast in preparation for a November launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An Air Force C-5 transport plane touched down at 3:16 p.m. on Kennedy Space Center's three-mile shuttle runway with GOES-R, the latest satellite in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites program. The first in a four-spacecraft series projected to cost nearly $11 billion through 2035, NOAA says GOES-R represents "a giant leap forward in technology" compared to predecessors, promising to improve forecasting of hurricanes and other weather.   More
(Source: Florida Today - Aug 23)

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO FO-29! - FO-29, known as JAS-2 (Japan Amateur Satellite #2) prior to launch, was built by the Japan Amateur Radio League and launched on August 17, 1996 from Tanegashima Space Center on an H-II launch vehicle into a 1,323 km x 800 km orbit with an inclination of 98.5 degrees. In addition to a 100 kHz wide analog Mode V/u (JA) transponder, the satellite also includes a packet BBS and digitalker. While the packet BBS and digitalker are non-functional, the analog transponder continues to provide excellent service to the present day.   More
(Source: South Gate - Aug 22)

ISRO TO LAUNCH FOUR KEY SATELLITES IN NEXT THREE MONTHS; ALSO REVEALS PLANS FOR 2020 MISSION TO SUN! - There seems to be no limit to space investigations, it seems. Director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite centre, Mylswamy Annadurai, has revealed that the space organisation is planning to launch four more key satellites in the coming three months. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a private college function here on Saturday, Mr Annadurai said that India has launched 10 satellites between August 2015 and August 2016, adding, four more launches-INSAT-3DR and SCATSAT-1 on September this year, GSAT-18 in October and ResourceSat-2A in November 2016, have been planned by the space body that is working for a tight schedule of 70 satellite launches in the next three years, Deccan Chronicle reported.   More
(Source: Zee News - Aug 22)

SCIENTISTS MAKE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY USING SATELLITE IMAGES - It’s one of the most vexing problems on this planet, and a new discovery by scientists could have a huge impact on millions of people suffering from poverty in the world. Researchers have created an algorithm that uses satellite imagery to provide detailed breakdowns of where impoverished people are in the world, allowing us to better figure out how to allocate resources where they are most needed. Researchers at Stanford University have created a deep-learning algorithm that allows computers to spot signs of poverty just by using satellite images — for example, by checking the condition of roads to see if the infrastructure is in disrepair, according to a statement. Up until now, such technology had been used to track crop conditions and deforestation, but now it could help us avoid wasting precious resources in the fight against poverty.   More
(Source: BABW News - Aug 22)

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