FALLING SATELLITE CARRIER EXPECTED TO LAND IN SEA OFF PHANG NGA - Boats and aircraft passing through the Andaman Sea region have been warned to watch out for parts of a satellite-launch vehicle falling to earth, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) said yesterday. The agency announced that at least one part of GSLV-D5-II, India's Geosynchronous Satellite-Launch Vehicle, could fall very close to Thailand, because it will pass over Phang Nga, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phuket, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang and Phatthalung, during the launch of India's communications satellite GSAT-14, between December 15 and January 14.    More
(Source: The Nation - Dec 14)

SPACE STATION'S COOLANT PROBLEM CASTS A CLOUD OVER CARGO CRAFT'S LAUNCH - NASA managers say they're still troubleshooting a problem with a coolant pump aboard the International Space Station — and although the crew is not in any danger, a commercial cargo flight might have to be postponed. A decision on the Dec. 18 launch of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus cargo ship atop an Antares rocket will be deferred until Monday, said Kenny Todd, NASA's space station mission integration and operations manager.   More
(Source: NBC News - Dec 14)

JOINT FRENCH-ITALIAN MILITARY SATELLITE ARRIVED AT LAUNCH BASE IN FRENCH GUIANA - The Athena-Fidus broadband telecommunications satellite, a joint French-Italian program, arrived at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on Dec. 9. Arianespace will carry out the launch using an Ariane 5 ECA launcher on Jan. 23 2013. The Athena-Fidus program (Access on theatres for European allied forces nations-French Italian dual use satellite) includes a geostationary satellite...    More
(Source: Satellite Today - Dec 13)

OVER-BUDGET ICESAT 2 MISSION UNDER REVIEW - NASA has notified Congress of an expected budget breach on the ICESat 2 mission, a satellite mired in technical difficulties with its ice-measuring laser altimeter and plagued by rising costs and launch delays. Officials disclosed their concerns with ICESat 2's budget in a presentation to the National Advisory Council's science committee on Dec. 3.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 11)

CHINA-BRAZIL SATELLITE FAILS TO ENTER ORBIT - A joint Chinese-Brazilian environmental monitoring satellite launched Monday from northern China failed to enter orbit, state media and experts said, in a rare setback for the country's ambitious space programme. The satellite, meant to be a key tool in Brazil's efforts to control Amazon rainforest deforestation and to monitor its huge agribusiness sector, blasted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province on a Long March 4B rocket at 11:26am (0326 GMT), Xinhua said.    More
(Source: Phys.Org - Dec 11)

PROTON LAUNCHES INMARSAT-5 F1 SATELLITE - A Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome's Pad 39 at Site 200 on Dec. 8, 2013, at 16:12 Moscow Time (12:12 GMT, 7:12 a.m. EST). The rocket was carrying the 6,100-kilogram Inmarsat-5 F1 satellite for the Inmarsat organization based in London, UK. During the launch of Inmarsat-5 F1, the first, second and third stages of the Proton rocket followed a standard ascent profile to place the payload section (Briz-M upper stage and the satellite) into a sub-orbital trajectory.    More
(Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 9)

BRAZIL AND CHINA PREPARE TO LAUNCH SATELLITE TO MONITOR AMAZON - CBERS-3, the satellite that China and Brazil will launch into orbit this week, has new and modern remote monitoring cameras capable of significantly improving scientists' ability to chart the deforestation of the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest. The fourth in the series of satellites developed and sent into space by the two countries as part of the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite, or CBERS, program will be launched on Monday.   More
(Source: GlobalPost - Dec 9)

GOVERNMENT SPY SATELLITE ROCKETS INTO SPACE ON ATLAS 5 - A classified U.S. spy payload rocketed into orbit from California on an Atlas 5 launcher Thursday, joining the nation's eyes and ears in the sky to supply intelligence to the government's national security agencies. The satellite is owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, but government officials do not disclose the identities of the NRO's spacecraft, only saying the payload will serve national security purposes.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 7)

FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES FIRST COMMERCIAL TELECOM PAYLOAD - A kerosene-fueled Falcon 9 launch vehicle owned and operated by SpaceX climbed away from Florida's Space Coast on Tuesday, steering into orbit more than 50,000 miles above Earth with a television broadcasting satellite in a successful flight signaling the changing landscape of the commercial launch industry.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 4)

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