BALL AEROSPACE-BUILT STPSAT-3 SATELLITE LAUNCHES FROM WALLOPS ISLAND, VA - The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. STPSat-3 satellite built for the Department of Defense and part of the Operationally Responsive Space-3 (ORS-3) mission, successfully launched from Wallops Island, VA, on board a Minotaur I at 8:15 p.m. EST. TPSat-3 joins its predecessor, the Ball-built STPSat-2, which launched in 2010 on the same date. These satellites demonstrate the ability to rapidly access space by using standard interfaces on a standard spacecraft bus.    More
(Source: Wall Street journal - Nov 20)

ORBITAL’S MINOTAUR I SUCCESSFULLY LOFTS MULTITUDE OF PAYLOADSROCKET TO LIFT OFF WITH SATELLITE BUILT - Orbital Sciences Corporation have launched the ORS-3 mission for the US military, using a Minotaur I rocket to demonstrate technology aimed at reducing costs for future missions. The rocket lofted a record 29 satellites, as well as two attached payloads, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island at 20:15 local time Tuesday (01:15 UTC on Wednesday).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 20)

NASA LAUNCHES MAVEN ORBITER TO PROBE MYSTERIES IN MARS' AIR - NASA launched its Maven orbiter on Monday to begin a journey that could unravel the mysteries surrounding Mars' past and current atmosphere — and perhaps reveal how the planet lost its life-friendly environment. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rose from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41 in Florida at 1:28 p.m. ET, carrying the probe into space to kick off its $671 million mission.   More
(Source: NBC News - Nov 18)

ECUADOR SET TO LAUNCH 2ND SATELLITE - Ecuador is ready to send its second satellite into space, with the launch scheduled for this week from a military base in Russia, the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency, or EXA, said. "Everything is set for the launch" of the Krysaor satellite on Tuesday, EXA director Ronnie Nader told Efe. The satellite will be carried into space by a Russian-made Dnepr RS-20 rocket. "Let's just say that we are just waiting for the launch. We're ready," Nader said. The rocket is scheduled to be launched at 0700 GMT Tuesday from the Dombarovsky missile complex at the Yasni base, Nader said.   More
(Source: GlobalPost - Nov 18)

SATELLITES TO PROBE EARTH'S STRANGE SHIELD - Europe next week will launch a trio of hi-tech satellites to explore something that may seem utterly mundane: Earth's magnetic field. After all, magnetism has been with us for billions of years. We harness it in innumerable ways, in navigation and electrical devices. What's new? Well, plenty, actually. If all goes well, the 230-million-euro ($276-million) Swarm mission will explain some of the weird things happening to the planet's magnetism.   More
(Source: GlobalPost - Nov 18)

NASA TO LAUNCH LIGHTING-STUDYING FIREFLY SATELLITE LATER THIS MONTH - NASA is preparing to launch an inexpensive, football-sized probe to study lightning, including its effects on the atmosphere and the possible link between the phenomenon and powerful energy bursts known as terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs), the US space agency announced on Friday. The probe has been dubbed Firefly, and it is currently scheduled for a launch later this month. The mission is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is part of the organization’s CubeSat program, which allows NASA officials to launch smaller satellites that are less expensive but still capable of performing quality space-related scientific research.   More
(Source: RedOrbit - Nov 17)

SOUTH AFRICA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST CUBE SATELLITE - The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) is set to make history with the launch of South Africa‘s first cube satellite, ZACUBE-1, from the Yasny base in Russia at 9:10 a.m. South African time on Nov. 21, the university announced Monday. The nano-satellite is a single unit carrying a space weather experiment, and will be sent up atop the RS-2OB rocket (Dnepr). Running on the same amount of power as a five-watt bulb, ZACUBE-1 will orbit Earth up to 15 times a day at an altitude of 600 kilometres.    More
(Source: Atlanta Black Star - Nov 17)

TJ STUDENTS BUILD SATELLITE SET TO LAUNCH INTO SPACE TUESDAY - The TJ CubeSat satellite is the first satellite built by high school students NASA will send into orbit. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) students will make history this week when NASA launches TJ3Sat into space. The satellite, which is pronounced TJ-cube-sat, will be the first satellite built by high school students to be launched into orbit.   More
(Source: Patch.com - Nov 17)

DUBAI’S SECOND SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED ON NOVEMBER 21 - DubaiSat 2, UAE’s second earth-imaging satellite, will blast off from the Yasny launch base in Russia on November 21, a key milestone for the UAE’s nascent space industry. Built and designed by a team of 32 engineers, half of whom are Emirati, the state of the art satellite is an initiative of the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), in association with South Korea’s Satrec Initiative.   More
(Source: gulfnews.com - Nov 14)

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