COUNTDOWN FOR INDIA'S GSLV ROCKET TO BEGIN ON JANUARY 4 - The countdown for the launch of India's heavy-duty rocket - the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) - that would carry communication satellite GSAT-14 is set to begin on January 4 morning, said a space agency official Thursday. "The 29-hour countdown for the GSLV launch is expected to commence around 11.20am on Saturday and the rocket is expected to blast off at 4.18pm on Sunday from (India's rocket port) Sriharikota (in Andhra Pradesh)," an Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) official told IANS over phone from Bangalore on Thursday.   More
(Source: Times of India - Jan 3)

SPACECOM’S AMOS-4 SATELLITE MOVES INTO ORBIT - Spacecom’s AMOS-4 satellite has reached its 65° East orbital position and is due to start commercial operations early this month. The communications satellite has Ku-band and Ka-band transponders and will service broadband and broadcast providers throughout Russia, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.   More
(Source: DigitalTVEurope.net - Jan 3)

SPACEX DELAYS FALCON 9 LAUNCH TO NEXT WEEK - SpaceX has delayed the launch of a Thai communications satellite from Friday until at least Monday, according to the U.S. Air Force. "We're not aware of anything that would cause a mission failure, but in order to ensure the highest possible level of mission assurance we decided to conduct additional inspections of the launch vehicle," said Emily Shanklin, a SpaceX spokesperson.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 3)

THAICOM 6 SATELLITE LAUNCH NEARS - Thaicom Plc, Thailand's sole satellite service provider, will launch its Thaicom 6 satellite in the first week of 2014 to support the burgeoning local broadcasting industry. Built by the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation, the broadcast satellite contains 26 transponders including 18 C-band and 8 Ku-band transponders.   More
(Source: Bangkok Post - Jan 2)

IRAN PLANS SATELLITE LAUNCH IN FEBRUARY - An Iranian aerospace official says the country plans to launch an indigenously designed and manufactured satellite into orbit in early February next year. Deputy head of Iran Space Agency (ISA), Hamid Fazeli, said on Tuesday that final tests are being carried out on several indigenous satellites. They include Sharif Sat, developed by Iranian students and academics from Sharif University of Technology, and AUT Sat, developed by Iranian scientists at Amir Kabir University of Technology.    More
(Source: Press TV - Jan 1)

AFTER WEEKS OF DELAY, ORBITAL CARGO LAUNCH ANNOUNCED - After weeks of delay, a resupply mission headed to the International Space Station by the aerospace firm Orbital Sciences Corp. has received the launch date of Jan. 7. Originally planned for Dec. 18, the shipment of nearly 3,000 pounds of cargo was delayed after the pump module on one of the space station's two cooling loops shut down automatically after reaching its preset temperature limit Dec. 11. The malfunction never posed any immediate danger to the crew, but did result in the powering down of several non-critical systems.   More
(Source: Nature World News - Dec 31)

NASA, JAXA ANNOUNCE LAUNCH DATE FOR NEW PRECIPITATION SATELLITE - On Thursday, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced the date and window — Feb. 27 from 1:07 pm to 3:07 pm EST — for the launch of a new precipitation satellite. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite is slated to be launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center. GPM is designed to conduct observations of rain and snowfall several times a day around the world. NASA said it expects data from the satellite to increase the knowledge of the water and energy cycles that affect Earth’s climate. More specifically, the satellite will be used to calibrate precipitation recordings conducted by an international network of affiliated satellites.   More
(Source: RedOrbit - Dec 28)

RUSSIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE LAUNCHED BY PROTON - A Proton rocket fired away from the snow-covered Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, completing a series of maneuvers before deploying a Russian civil communications satellite in orbit nine hours later. Liftoff of the workhorse Russian rocket from the Central Asia launch base was at 1049:56 GMT (5:49:56 a.m. EST; 4:49:56 p.m. local time). The 19-story rocket quickly disappeared into a soupy cloud deck hanging over the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where temperatures hovered near freezing and a coating of snow blanketed the arid terrain.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 28)

RUSSIA SET TO LAUNCH PROTON ROCKET WITH TELECOMS SATELLITE - A Proton-M rocket carrying a high-power telecommunications satellite will lift off Thursday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan to wrap up Russia’s space launch program for this year. “The launch has been scheduled for 2:50 p.m. Moscow time [10:50 GMT]. The separation of the Express-AM5 satellite from the Briz-M booster is expected at 12:12 a.m. Moscow time on December 27,” said a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscosmos.   More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Dec 26)

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