NASA SET TO LAUNCH SUPPLY SHIP TO SPACE STATION - NASA’s supply ships to the International Space Station are soon to fly again. From Our Advertisers Orbital ATK, one of two companies that NASA has hired to ferry cargo, is set to launch 7,700 pounds of equipment, experiments and supplies on Thursday. Orbital’s last cargo run, in October last year, ended in a fireball when the rocket exploded 15 seconds after liftoff. Investigators blamed the failure of one of two refurbished 1970s-era Soviet engines that powered Orbital’s Antares rocket. The launchpad at Wallops Island, Va., was badly damaged. More (Source: New York Times - Dec 3)
FRENCH ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH AZERBAIJANI SECOND SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - French Arianespace company will launch the Azerbaijani second telecommunication satellite "Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38" into orbit, Elmir Velizade, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies, said Dec.1 at a press-conference dedicated to the opening of the BakuTel-2015 exhibition. He said that Arianespace company has won Azercosmos’s tender to put the second telecommunication satellite into orbit. "The Azerbaijani first satellite was also put in orbit by Arianespace company,” he said. “We expect that Azercosmos will sign another contract with this company." More (Source: Trend News Agency - Dec 2)
LISA PATHFINDER LAUNCH GROUNDED TO ANALYZE VEGA UPPER STAGE - Launch managers in French Guiana have delayed liftoff of a European gravitational probe pathfinder at least one day to study the thermal extremes the upper stage of its Vega rocket booster will encounter on the flight, officials said Tuesday. The launch of the European Space Agency’s LISA Pathfinder was set for overnight Tuesday (early Wednesday, French Guiana time), but engineers elevated concerns about the readiness of the Vega rocket’s liquid-fueled fourth stage, which must ignite two times to deploy the 1,906-kilogram (4,202-pound) spacecraft into the correct orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 2)
'SANTA'S SLEIGH' WILL BE VISIBLE IN THE SKY AS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PASSES OVER THE UK ON - If any children in your life are getting older and beginning to doubt the existence of Santa, Christmas Eve could be the perfect day to restore their faith. From 4:42pm to 4:50pm on 24 December, the International Space Station will be visible over the UK - bearing a strong resemblance to Santa's flying sleigh, weighed down with presents. The ISS orbits at a height of around 250 miles, and measures around 110 metres in length - it'll be hard to spot, but it won't be impossible. More (Source: The Independent - Dec 2)
SPACEFLIGHT OFFERS A CYBER MONDAY DEAL: SATELLITE LAUNCHES FOR $200,000 – THAT’S 33 PERCENT OFF! - Here’s a Cyber Monday deal from Seattle-based Spaceflight for the space geek on your list: Purchase a satellite launch for one-third off, at the low, low price of $200,000. The only catch is that you’ll have to wait until 2018 for the satellite to be delivered. But that’s the way it is with travel plans, whether you’re heading to a vacation resort or putting a 3U CubeSat in a sun-synchronous orbit 310 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet. “Booking early is the best for both parties,” said Phil Brzytwa, Spaceflight’s business development manager. More (Source: GeekWire - Dec 1)
LASER POWER: RUSSIA DEVELOPS ENERGY BEAM FOR SATELLITE REFUELING - The Federal Space Agency Roscosmos plans to perform a unique experiment where it hopes to transmit energy wirelessly in space, RIA Novosti quoted the Russian newspaper Izvestia as saying. The new technology, which will use a space laser, may be of use to sophisticated satellites and military space vehicles, the newspaper said, adding that the experiment is being prepared by experts from the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, according to Izvestia. More (Source: Sputnik International - Dec 1)
FIRST PURELY EGYPTIAN-MADE SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED IN 2017 - The first purely Egyptian-made pilot satellite will be launched in the beginning of 2017 within the framework of experimental satellites' program meant to serve scientific research, said the head of the National Authority for Remote Sensing & Space Sciences (NARSS). Under the program due to wrap up work in 2022, four or five satellites will be launched, Medhat Mokhtar said in statements to MENA on Saturday. The pilot satellite will be fit out with top-notch equipment and its space exploration age is six months, he said. More (Source: Egypt Independent - Nov 30)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND CREW AWAITING ATLAS 5 LAUNCH OF CYGNUS - Lending a helping hand to resume the stalled U.S. supply chain to the International Space Station, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send a commercial Cygnus cargo craft in pursuit of the outpost Thursday. With Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket and the SpaceX Falcon 9 both grounded by failures, a pair of Atlas 5 boosters stand ready as gap-fillers to launch Cygnus vessels over the next 100 days from Cape Canaveral, Florida. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 30)
ATLAS V TARGETING THURSDAY LAUNCH OF ISS CARGO - United Launch Alliance plans to roll its 12th and final rocket of the year to a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pad this week. The Atlas V rocket is targeting a 5:55 p.m. Thursday liftoff from Launch Complex 41 with a Cygnus cargo module carrying International Space Station supplies. The exact time could change slightly and will be confirmed early in the week after the space station adjusts its orbit to put itself in the proper position for Soyuz crew vehicles coming and going next month. More (Source: Florida Today - Nov 30)
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