RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP LAUNCHES SPACESUIT REPAIR KIT TO SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz rocket launched an unmanned resupply ship to the International Space Station Saturday (July 27) for an express delivery to the orbiting outpost. The vehicle will be delivering food, supplies and the last-minute addition of a repair kit for a U.S. spacesuit that malfunctioned during a spacewalk last week. The robotic Progress 52 spacecraft and its Soyuz rocket lifted off at 4:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it was early morning Sunday.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 28)

ADVANCED WEATHER SATELLITE INSAT-3D SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - India's advanced meteorological satellite INSAT-3D was successfully launched by an European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana early today, giving a boost to weather forecasting and disaster warning services. European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launched INSAT-3D and Alphasat satellites.    More
(Source: Business Standard - Jul 26)

RUSSIA’S PROGRESS M-18M SPACECRAFT SPLASHES DOWN IN PACIFIC - Fragments of Russia’s Progress M-18M space freighter sunk safely in the Pacific Ocean after re-entering the atmosphere on Friday, a spokesman for the Russian mission control center said. The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) shortly after midnight Moscow time and started its final journey towards a remote location in the Pacific Ocean known as the “spacecraft cemetery.”    More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Jul 26)

SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP ACTIVITIES TO AIR ON NASA TV - NASA Television will provide live coverage of the departure of one Russian cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, July 25 and the launch and docking of another to the station Saturday, July 27. The ISS Progress 50 resupply ship currently moored to the space station's Pirs docking compartment will undock at 4:43 p.m. EDT Thursday.    More
(Source: Sacramento Bee - Jul 23)

ROCKET LAUNCH SENDS COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO SPACE - A heavyweight Navy communications satellite was boosted into space by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Friday, the second in a series of five relay stations that will act like orbital cell phone towers in a globe-spanning $5 billion network. The second Mobile User Objective System satellite -- MUOS-2 -- tipped the scales at nearly 15,000 pounds, making it one of the heaviest payloads ever launched atop an Atlas 5, requiring five solid-fuel strap-on boosters to generate the required lift.    More
(Source: CBS News - Jul 21)

U.S. NAVY POISED TO LAUNCH LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT SECURE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE FOR MOBILE USERS - The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin /quotes/zigman/150087/quotes/nls/lmt LMT +1.31% are ready to launch the second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite here on Friday, July 19 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The launch window is between 8:48 a.m. and 9:32 a.m. EDT. A live launch broadcast will begin at 8:28 a.m. EDT and will be accessible via the ULA webcast.    More
(Source: MarketWatch - Jul 18)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP DEMONSTRATION SET TO LAUNCH FROM VA. IN SEPTEMBER - A NASA contractor says it will ferry supplies from Virginia to the International Space Station in late September in what the company hopes will be the first of many resupply missions. Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp. says its Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch sometime between Sept. 14 and 19, and dock with the International Space Station on Sept. 22.    More
(Source: The Washington Post - Jul 17)

NAVY SATELLITE HOISTED ABOARD ATLAS 5 LAUNCH VEHICLE - The second satellite in the orbital assembly of the U.S. Navy's new mobile communications network was being loaded atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket booster today at Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is scheduled for July 19 during a morning window of 8:48 to 9:32 a.m. EDT (1248-1332 GMT) from Complex 41. At nearly 15,000 pounds, the Mobile User Objective System satellite is a hefty cargo requiring the most powerful version of the Atlas 5 to carry the payload into a highly elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit.    More
(Source: Spaceflight Now - Jul 10)

NAVIGATION SATELLITE ORBIT RAISED, ISRO STARTS TESTING CRYOGENIC ENGINE - The Indian space agency Saturday evening successfully put its first navigation satellite - the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1A (IRNSS-1A) - in the geosynchronous orbit at 27 degrees to the equator, said officials Sunday. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials also said tests are being carried on its cryogenic engine that was mated with its heavier rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Friday.    More
(Source: Business Standard - Jul 9)

Previous Next