AZERBAIJAN SENDS FIRST COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO SPACE TODAY - Azerbaijan will launch its first communications satellite today, designed and built by Orbital Sciences Corp., as the Caspian Sea nation seeks to develop information technology to diversify its economy beyond energy. The Azerspace/Africasat-1a satellite will provide communications services to Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Europe and Africa, the Dulles, Virginia-based company said on its website. Orbital is responsible for providing the satellite and ground system, it said. More (Source: Bloomberg - Feb 8)
SIX NEW GLOBALSTAR SATELLITES RIDE SOYUZ ROCKET TO ORBIT - Launching into a clear dark sky over the deserts of Kazakhstan, a Soyuz booster rocketed into space Wednesday with six satellites for Globalstar's mobile communications network. The satellites will help keep Globalstar's two-way voice and data service going through the 2020s for the company's subscribers in 120 countries. The mission completes Globalstar's second-generation satellite fleet, which began launching in 2010. Four Soyuz launches, including Wednesday's mission, sent 24 Globalstar satellites into orbit, supplementing and replacing the Louisiana-based company's first-generation satellites, most of which launched from 1998 to 2000. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 7)
IRAN TO LAUNCH TOLOU SATELLITE INTO SPACE: DEFENSE MIN. - Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says the Islamic Republic is planning to send Tolou (Sunrise) satellite into space from a new satellite launch center. Addressing a group of space technology researchers in Tehran on Monday, Vahidi stated that Tolou would be launched on Simorgh satellite carrier from the Imam Khomeini Satellite Launch Center. The Iranian defense minister stated that the final phases of the center’s construction are underway. More (Source: Press TV - Feb 6)
LAUNCH OF SOYUZ ROCKET CARRYING 6 SATELLITES POSTPONED BY 1 DAY FOR WEATHER REASONS - The launch of a Soyuz-2.1A launch vehicle carrying six mobile telecommunications satellites belonging to the Globalstar company has been postponed to a reserve date due to unfavorable weather conditions in the area of the Baikonur Space Center, a Baikonur source said. "The launch has been postponed by one day for meteorological reasons," the source said. The center for operations of the ground space infrastructure, which, in particular, operates the Baikonur infrastructure, reported on its website that the weather in the Baikonur area was fair with some clouds, moderate southeastern wind and temperature varying from zero to minus three degrees Celsius on Tuesday. More (Source: The Voice of Russia - Feb 5)
ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR MEASAT SATELLITE LAUNCH ON THURSDAY - Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd’s AZERSPACE-1/AFRICASAT-1a satellite has entered final preparations for its launch scheduled for this Thursday. The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corp of Dulles, in the United States, based on Orbital’s flight-proven Star-2 satellite design. The satellite is scheduled for launch onboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 6:30pm local time (5:30 am Friday, Malaysian time). More (Source: The Star Online - Feb 5)
US SATELLITE LOST IN FAILED RUSSIAN LAUNCH FROM PACIFIC - Sea Launch AG says a U.S. communications satellite was lost after a booster rocket carrying it into space failed shortly after its launch from a floating platform in the Pacific. The company said in a statement Friday the Intelsat 27 satellite was lost 40 seconds after the launch due to the failure of the Zenit-3SL rocket. The Boeing. Co-built spacecraft was launched Thursday from the Odyssey ocean platform. Sea Launch AG President Kjell Karlsen said the cause of the failure is unknown and the company is working to evaluate it. More (Source: Fox News - Feb 2)
ATLAS 5 PUTS SCIENCE-RELAY SATELLITE INTO ORBIT FOR NASA - Advancing from the days of ground stations providing sporadic coverage of man's early exploits in space to the creation of an orbiting satellite network for constant communications, the third generation of NASA's tracking stations in the sky roared off the launch pad Wednesday night. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, capping its quickest pre-flight processing flow to date, fired into the nighttime sky from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 at 8:48 p.m. EST (0148 GMT). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)
SOUTH KOREA, RUSSIA PARTNER FOR HISTORIC SATELLITE LAUNCH - South Korea officials said Wednesday they succeeded in launching a small satellite aboard part-Russian, part-Korean rocket, marking the first time the rising Asian power has launched a spacecraft into orbit from its own soil. The 108-foot-tall Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle, or KSLV 1, ignited its Russian main engine at 0700 GMT (2 a.m. EST) and rose from a launch pad at the Naro Space Center, a facility in South Jeolla province about 300 miles south of Seoul. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 30)
EFFECTS OF WORST SATELLITE BREAKUPS IN HISTORY STILL FELT TODAY - The anniversaries of two major space junk events — China's anti-satellite test on Jan. 11, 2007, and the destructive fender-bender between a defunct Soviet Union-era satellite with an operating U.S. spacecraft on Feb. 10, 2009 — are receiving special attention in orbital debris circles. The Chinese anti-satellite test merited a nod by the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) Public Affairs Office from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, labeling it an "Anniversary Milestone: Satellite Shootdown." More (Source: Space.com - Jan 30)
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