EUROPE RECOVERS WAYWARD GALILEO SATELLITE - Europe has recovered one of two satellites that were put into the wrong orbit when launched in August and may still be useable for the Galileo satellite navigation system as originally planned. The mishap in August was one in a series of setbacks to the multi-billion-euro Galileo project, which has been beset by delays, financing problems and questions about whether Europe really needs a rival to the U.S. Global Positioning System, widely known as GPS.   More
(Source: Reuters - Dec 4)

NEW DATES SET FOR DELAYED PROTON-M SATELLITE LAUNCHES - Delayed launches have been announced of Proton-M rockets carrying Russian and European telecommunications satellites. Russia's Yamal-401 is scheduled for lift-off on December 16 and Europe's Astra-2G on December 28, Irina Zubareva, spokesperson for Russia’s space agency chief, told TASS on Tuesday. Launches were planned for December 12 and November 28, respectively, but the November event was delayed due to malfunction in the rocket's control system.   More
(Source: ITAR-TASS - Dec 3)

BILL WOULD CAP RUSSIAN ENGINES ON U.S. SATELLITE LAUNCHES - A compromise defense policy bill in Congress would bar the purchase of more Russian-made rocket engines to launch U.S. military satellites, clearing the way for competitive bids for 14 future launches, senior congressional aides said on Tuesday. The proposal is one of several new agreements included in a compromise version of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) filed in the House of Representatives and expected to be debated as early as this week. The NDAA, which is approved annually, sets U.S. defense policy and authorizes spending levels but does not actually appropriate funds. It has to be approved by both chambers before going to President Barack Obama for his signature.   More
(Source: Reuters - Dec 3)

SMALL SATELLITES HAVE ANOTHER WAY TO GET INTO SPACE - A spherical U.S. Navy spacecraft the size of a beach ball spring-ejected from a new satellite deployer outside the International Space Station last week, debuting a fresh way for low-budget space missions to reach orbit. The satellite — named SpinSat and developed by the Naval Research Laboratory — will test out new electrically-controlled micro-thrusters, help refine the military’s ability to track objects in space, and acquire data on the density of the tenuous upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. SpinSat’s deployment from the space station Friday was the first time a satellite was released from a new mechanism designed to accommodate spacecraft weighing up to 100 kilograms, or about 220 pounds.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 3)

NASA COVERAGE OF FIFTH SPACEX RESUPPLY MISSION TO SPACE STATION - The fifth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch Tuesday, Dec. 16, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 1:15 p.m. EST. The company's Falcon 9 rocket will lift off at 2:31 p.m., carrying its Dragon cargo spacecraft. It is loaded with more than 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations that will take place on the space station during ISS Expeditions 42 and 43.    More
(Source: Southgate Amateur Radio Club - Dec 1)

SOYUZ ROCKET DEPLOYS UPGRADED RUSSIAN NAVIGATION CRAFT - A new navigation satellite lifted off aboard a Soyuz rocket Sunday and reached an orbital perch 12,000 miles above Earth to test upgraded capabilities aimed at improving positioning services for Russian military and civilian users. The spacecraft will join Russia’s Glonass navigation system, an analog to the U.S. military’s GPS network. The Glonass satellite launched at 2152 GMT (4:52 p.m. EST) Sunday on top of a Soyuz 2-1b booster from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military facility about 500 miles north of Moscow, according to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)

ASTRA 2G COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED DUE TO FAULTY PROTON - The 7th Proton rocket launch of 2014 and the 400th launch overall for the venerable booster, since first lifting off in 1965, was set for flight at 03:24 a.m. (4:24 p.m. EST) on Nov. 28, from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton M variant of the launch vehicle, contracted under an International Launch Services (ILS) agreement, was set fly with a Breeze-M upper stage and take to the skies from Pad 39 with the Astra-2G satellite on board. Today, technicians discovered a fault in the vehicle’s control system, and decided to postpone the mission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Nov 27)

ISRO TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE GSAT-16 ON DECEMBER 5 - GSAT-16 communication satellite would be launched onboard Ariane 5 from French Guiana in the early hours of December 4 (Dec 5 in Indian time), a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official was quoted as saying to PTI on Wednesday. The official added that the exact time of the launch would be announced soon. GSAT-16 will be the 11th among GSAT series of Indian communication satellites and will have a mission life of more than 12 years. GSAT-16 is similar to GSAT-15 with each satellite weighing 3,150 kg and having power generation capacity of 6.8 kW.   More
(Source: Zee News - Nov 27)

ANTARES ROCKET FAILURE PUSHES TINY SATELLITE COMPANY TO HITCH RIDE WITH SPACEX - The various companies that had stuff sitting on the failed Orbital Sciences Antares rocket launch last month are busy looking for alternatives. One example is Planet Labs, which is best known for deploying dozens of tiny satellites from the International Space Station this year. The company lost 26 satellites in the explosion. But within nine days of the Oct. 28 event, Planet Labs had a partial backup plan—send two replacements last-minute on an upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.    More
(Source: Phys.Org - Nov 26)

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