ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH SATELLITE FOR DIRECTV LATIN AMERICA - Arianespace and DIRECTV have announced a new launch contract for a satellite providing services for DIRECTV Latin America. The launch will take place in 2014 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on an Ariane 5. DIRECTV has exercised an option in their multi-launch contract with Arianespace for the launch of an additional satellite that will provide services for DIRECTV Latin America. Arianespace has already been contracted to launch DIRECTV-14 and 15 within the same time frame. More (Source: Space Daily - Nov 18)
NEW CREW DOCKS SAFELY AT SPACE STATION - The first post-shuttle-era crew to launch toward the International Space Station arrived at the outpost Wednesday after a two-day flight from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. With cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov in the commander's seat, a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Poisk module on the Russian side of the station. Poisk, named for the Russian word for "Search," was added to the station in 2009. It is a dual-purpose docking compartment and airlock. Flying in the Soyuz on either side of Shkaplerov were cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and U.S. astronaut Dan Burbank. The link-up came at 12:24 a.m. — about nine minutes earlier than scheduled — as the Soyuz and the station flew high over the South Pacific. More (Source: USA Today - Nov 17)
NEW CREW SOON TO ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION - Three spaceflyers are expected to arrive at the International Space Station early Wednesday, where they will begin a months-long mission aboard the orbiting outpost. After a two-day journey in orbit, NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are scheduled to reach the space station at 12:33 a.m. EST. The trio will dock their Russian-built Soyuz TMA-22 capsule to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the orbiting complex. After conducting a series of leak checks, the spaceflyers will open the hatches between the two spacecraft at around 3:45 a.m. EST. More (Source: MSNBC - Nov 16)
RUSSIANS LAUNCH CREW ON CRUCIAL FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - Three astronauts were lofted into orbit amid heavy snowfall on Monday, on a mission to bring the crew of the International Space Station back to full strength. The liftoff at 10:14 a.m. local time (11:14 p.m. ET) from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan came after a weeks-long delay, due to the crash of a Russian rocket that was carrying an unmanned cargo spaceship. That incident in August forced the Russians to review the safety of the similar Soyuz rocket model that is used for manned launches. More (Source: MSNBC - Nov 14)
RUSSIA TO RETURN FULL CREW TO SPACE STATION AFTER CRASH - Three astronauts will take off on Monday returning a full crew to the International Space Station (ISS) after the crash of a Russian cargo spaceship disrupted operations and undermined faith in the Russian space programme. The launch at 0414 GMT is the first since NASA ended its 30-year shuttle programme in July, heralding a gap of several years when the 16-nations investing in the $100-billion space station will rely solely on Russia to ferry crews. More (Source: Reuters - Nov 13)
IRAN TO PUT 3 NEW SATELLITES IN SPACE - Speaking at a Saturday gathering on Iran's satellite carrier systems, General Vahidi said that Iranian scientist are set to send the Fajr (Dawn), Navid (Harbinger) and Tolou (Rise) satellites into space in the course of the current and next Iranian calendar years. The Iranian defense minister told the gathering in Tehran that Fajr will blast into space with the thrusting power of 'Safir-e-Fajr' satellite carrier while Navid and Tolou will be mounted on Iran's Simorgh (Phoenix) carrier for lift-off, IRIB reported. More (Source: Press TV - Nov 13)
RUSSIAN SPACE PROBE UNLIKELY TO BE SAVED - A source in Russia's space industry says chances are slim for saving an unmanned Russian mission to Mars that remains stuck in low earth orbit. The source told Russia's Interfax news agency Friday that overnight efforts to re-establish contact with the spacecraft were unsuccessful. The source said that attempts to make contact with the probe will continue, using Earth-based facilities operated by NASA and the European Space Agency. More (Source: Voice of America - Nov 12)
RUSSIA TRYING TO SALVAGE PHOBOS-GRUNT MISSION - One day after a Russian Mars probe was left stranded in low Earth orbit, engineers planned to begin trying to save the mission Wednesday in hopes the problem was a relatively simple software glitch. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, the 29,000-pound Phobos-Grunt spacecraft entered an orbit with a low point of 128 miles and a high point of 216 miles. But the craft's propulsion unit was supposed to fire twice later Tuesday night to raise its altitude and inject the probe on a trajectory toward Mars. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Nov 10)
SUCCESSFUL DOCKING CATAPULTS CHINA INTO ELITE SPACE CLUB - Two unmanned Chinese spaceships made an automated docking in orbit Wednesday, successfully proving precise navigation and rendezvous technology crucial to China's aspirations for a space station by the end of this decade. Although no one was aboard either spacecraft Wednesday, the precise docking could give Chinese officials confidence to put up to three astronauts on the next rendezvous mission. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Nov 7)
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