ISRO TO LAUNCH THIRD NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE IN OCTOBER - The third satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) will be launched in October, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). The launch window will open in the first week of October, said an Isro spokesperson. This is the window during which conditions are opimal for the satellite to reach the right orbit. The IRNSS, which will be a constellation of seven satellites, is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region, extending up to 1,500km from India’s boundary. It aims to reduce India’s dependence on foreign navigational systems such as the US global positioning system and the Russian global navigation satellite system.   More
(Source: Livemint - Sep 27)

ROMANIA WANTS ITS OWN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLIT - Romania might have its own communications satellite in a few years, which might help diminish the costs of renting out communication lines. Authorities are considering drafting a clear plan in 2015, so that the country can have its first own communications satellite after three or four more years, said Razvan Cotovelea, the Minister for the Information Society. The satellite would support all types of communication, from special communication for the Ministry of National Defense, or Foreign Affairs Ministry, and would also allow renting out communication lines to any private investors. It would also help reduce the state’s cost for renting out communication lines from various suppliers on the market, and make extra money by renting out such lines to others.   More
(Source: Romania-Insider.com - Sep 26)

US-RUSSIAN CREW DOCKS WITH SPACE STATION - A U.S.-Russian crew docked early Friday with the International Space Station, about six hours after launching from Russia's manned space facility in Kazakhstan. The Russian Soyuz-TMA14M spacecraft joined up with the space laboratory as it orbited 226 miles (364 kilometers) above the earth. It was carrying space veterans Alexander Samokutayev of Russia and American Barry Wilmore along with Elena Servova of Russia, making her first journey. The capsule launched at 2:25 a.m. Friday (2025 GMT Thursday, 4:25 p.m. EDT) from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.    More
(Source: TheNewsTribune.com - Sep 26)

RUSSIA TO INJECT MASSIVE NEW FUNDING INTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia's new federal space program will allocate a whopping 321 billion rubles ($8.2 billion) to the development and utilization of the International Space Station, a byword for global space cooperation that Moscow threatened to abandon earlier this year over the crisis in Ukraine. At a meeting with the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying Russia's 2016-25 program, which is in the final stages of government approval, will heap extra funds on the $100 billion international project, "including new [space station] modules and the OKA-T automated spacecraft."   More
(Source: The Moscow Times - Sep 25)

1ST MADE IN NIGERIA SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED BY 2018 - The Minister of Science and Technology, Abdu Bulama, said on Tuesday in Abuja that Nigeria would design, fabricate, test and launch its indigenous satellite by 2018. Bulama stated this when he inspected facilities at the Obasanjo Space Centre of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). The minister said the centre had the mandate to launch Nigeria’s first indigenous satellite by 2018, and described space science and technology programme as an important component of the Nigerian dream. According to him, the satellite programme has a very positive role to play in the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.   More
(Source: Bella Naija - Sep 24)

SUPPLIES DELIVERED TO SPACE STATION BY DRAGON CARGO CRAFT - A Dragon cargo craft closed in on the International Space Station on Tuesday after a two-day pursuit following Sunday's launch from Cape Canaveral, delivering more than 2.5 tons of supplies for scientists and the lab's residents. A habitat with 20 mice, a commercially-made 3D printer, and a $26 million NASA instrument to aid hurricane research -- plus gear for more than 250 other experiments -- arrived inside the Dragon supply ship. European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst took control of the space station's Canadian-built robotic arm to grapple the 12-foot-diameter gumdrop-shaped cargo capsule at 6:52 a.m. EDT (1052 GMT) Tuesday.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 24)

SPACEX SUPPLY SHIP TAKES OFF WITH ANIMALS, CRITICAL CARGO - SpaceX launched a Dragon supply ship packed with mice, an experimental 3D printer, a hurricane research instrument, and a bundle of crew provisions on a two-day pursuit of the International Space Station with a thunderous middle-of-the-night sendoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket booster. Running a day late after Cape Canaveral was inundated with rain showers early Saturday, the experiment-laden Dragon spaceship lifted off at 1:52 a.m. EDT (0552 GMT) after late night clouds dissipated, clearing a route for the 208-foot-tall Falcon 9 launcher to fly into orbit. A nine-engine first stage powered the Falcon 9 into a starry sky, generating 1.3 million pounds of ground-shaking thrust and an orange plume of rocket exhaust as the booster disappeared from view of spectators.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 21)

SPACEX FALCON 9 LAUNCH SET FOR EARLY SUNDAY - A second attempt to launch the Falcon 9 is set for 1:52 a.m. Sunday, but weather stands at 40 percent favorable, according to the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron. There is a chance of violating the thick cloud rule and flight through precipitation rule. If Sunday's early-morning launch is also scrubbed, there's another opportunity to launch the Falcon 9 rocket at 1:04 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23.   More
(Source: News 13 Orland - Sep 21)

LOCKHEED MARTIN SUCCESSFULLY MATES NOAA GOES-R SATELLITE MODULES - A team of technicians and engineers at Lockheed Martin has successfully mated together the large system and propulsion modules of the first GOES-R series weather satellite at the company's Space Systems facilities near Denver, Colorado. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R) is NOAA's next-generation geostationary weather satellites.The system module of the A2100-based satellite houses more than 70 electronics boxes that comprise the three major electrical subsystems; command and data handling, communication, and electrical power. The propulsion core contains the integrated propulsion system and serves as the structural backbone of the satellite.    More
(Source: Phys.Org - Sep 20)

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