EUROPEAN CARGO SHIP SET FOR DOCKING WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Europe's final robot cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to dock today - its manoeuvres webcast live from several angles, France's CNES space agency has said. The automated transfer vehicle (ATV), the fifth and last that Europe had pledged for lifeline deliveries to the orbiting outpost, was blasted into space on July 30 from Kourou in French Guiana. Weighing in at more than 20 tonnes, the double decker bus-sized craft is carrying the biggest-ever payload of more than 6.6 tonnes, including fuel, water, oxygen, food, clothes and scientific experiments for the six ISS crew.    More
(Source: 9news.com.au - Aug 12)

NEW COMMERCIAL EYE IN THE SKY LAUNCHING WEDNESDAY - The world's most capable commercial Earth-imaging satellite will be launched into space Wednesday atop an Atlas rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Liftoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. EDT; 1830 GMT) at the opening of a 15-minute launch window from pad 3-East on South Base. "It's kind of like your kid going off to kindergarten and college for the first day at the same time," said Jeff Dierks, the program manager at satellite builder Ball Aerospace.Base in California.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 11)

CHINA LAUNCHES REMOTE-SENSING SATELLITE - China Saturday sent a remote-sensing satellite into the orbit. The Yaogan XX satellite blasted off at 1.45 p.m., on the back of a Long March 4C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre located in the Gobi desert, about 1,600 km from Beijing, Xinhua reported. The satellite will be used to conduct scientific experiments, land surveys, monitor crop yields and aid in preventing and reducing natural disasters.   More
(Source: Zee News - Aug 10)

NEW WORLDVIEW 3 SATELLITE TO OFFER UNPRECEDENTED LOOK AT THE GLOBE - DigitalGlobe's WorldView 3 satellite, scheduled to launch next week, promises to bring unprecedented resolution to commercial satellite imagery. The satellite will be blasted into space on an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Wednesday morning in a launch that has extra significance given a recent U.S. government decision to relax rules regarding the resolution of images that can be sold to companies like Google and Microsoft.   More
(Source: Computerworld - Aug 9)

HOW TO SEE EUROPE'S LAST SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP IN THE NIGHT SKY - A robotic European cargo vessel is closing in on the International Space Station over the coming week, and skywatchers can follow the chase. The European Space Agency's fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) blasted off July 29 and is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting lab on Aug. 12. There will be a number of opportunities to see both the space station and the cargo ship streaking across the night sky, even for observers in brightly lit cities. ATV-5, which is named "Georges Lemaitre" after the Belgian astronomer and priest, is stocked with 7.3 tons of experiments, spare parts, clothing, food, fuel, air, oxygen and water for the space station's six-person crew.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 8)

INDIA IDENTIFYING SITE FOR THIRD SATELLITE LAUNCH PAD - India is considering setting up another satellite launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to boost the launching frequency of Indian satellites, it was stated Wednesday in the Lok Sabha. Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, said the third launch pad is "intended to support increased launch frequency and to support launching requirements of advanced launch vehicles."   More
(Source: Economic Times - Aug 8)

SPACEX FALCON 9 V1.1 LAUNCHES ASIASAT-8 SATELLITE - Making their fourth orbital launch of the year, the SpaceX team have conducted another Falcon 9 mission on Tuesday, deploying China’s AsiaSat-8 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The launch took place from Cape Canaveral, with a T-0 of 08:00 UTC – following a hold during the initial attempt at the opening of the window. The AsiaSat-8 spacecraft was constructed by Space Systems/Loral, and carries 24 transponders operating in the Ku band of the electromagnetic spectrum with a bandwidth of 54 megahertz, along with a single Ka-band transponder. It is based on the LS-1300 bus.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Aug 5)

ASIASAT 8 READY TO RIDE SPACEX LAUNCHER INTO ORBIT - A Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, continuing a jam-packed sequences of launches by SpaceX for commercial and government customers after a slow start to the year. The 22-story rocket will loft the AsiaSat 8 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, a drop-off point for most large telecom payloads heading for operating posts 22,300 miles over the equator. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 1:25 a.m. EDT (0525 GMT). The launch window extends until 4:11 a.m. EDT (0811 GMT).    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 5)

ASIASAT 8 TO LAUNCH ON 5 AUGUST FOR APAC REGION - A new satellite is all set to be launched on 5 August that will cater to the Asia Pacific countries of India, China, Middle East and south east Asia. Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (ASTC) will launch AsiaSat 8 from Cape Canaveral in the US. The satellite will be propelled into the sky at Hong Kong time 1:35 pm or 1:25 am Cape Canaveral time, by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle from its station in Florida. AsiaSat 8 is a space systems/loral 1300 series satellite with a life span of 15 years.   More
(Source: Indiantelevision.com - Aug 4)

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