GLOBALSTAR ANNOUNCES SATELLITE LAUNCH UPDATE - Globalstar, Inc., a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced that its upcoming launch of six second-generation satellites planned for mid October will be delayed. Russian Space Agency officials notified the Company of the delay and said it will undertake complete inspections of all Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicles, including three to be used for launches to the International Space Station and Globalstar's, following a recent launch failure. More (Source: MarketWatch - Sep 14)
RUSSIAN ROCKET DELAYS RISK TURNING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION INTO GHOST TOWN - Houston, YOU have a problem. With no space shuttles to take astronauts to the International Space Station, the U.S. relies upon Russian rockets. But amid deep concerns over a recent rocket crash, Russia on Tuesday announced it was postponing the launch of the latest space station crew to Nov. 12 -- mere days before before the final astronauts on the orbiting laboratory are due to return to Earth. That makes the potential for an unmanned International Space Station very real -- and NASA could have seen it coming, said Christopher C. Kraft, the former director of NASA's Manned Spaceflight Center. More (Source: Fox News - Sep 14)
RUSSIA SETS SPACE CREW'S RETURN AFTER CRASH - Russia said Monday it would return three of the six international crew members on board the International Space Station to Earth later this week despite no immediate plans to send up their replacement. A Russian Mission Control Centre official told RIA Novosti that the two Russians and one NASA astronauts would return on board a Soyuz TMA-21 capsule early Friday. He said their landing in the steppes of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan was expected at 0038 GMT. Their return will leave the ISS with a skeleton crew of three in breach of regular practice. More (Source: AFP - Sep 13)
MEGHA-TROPIQUES LAUNCH ON OCTOBER 12 - If all tests go according to plans, Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ‘Megha- Tropiques’, an Indo-French advanced tropical climate monitoring satellite will be launched on October 12 at 11.00 am from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced on Saturday. Speaking to media about the launch of Megha- Tropiques, Radhakrishnan said, "The final tests are being conducted"... More (Source: IBNLive.com - Sep 11)
VIASAT-1 SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED AGAIN - ViaSat, a Carlsbad satellite communications company, said Thursday that the launch of its new $400 million broadband Internet satellite has been delayed until mid October. ViaSat's satellite was scheduled to launch at the end of September. This is the third delay for ViaSat-1, which aims to bring high speed satellite Internet service to rural areas outside the reach of cable and DSL. More (Source: SignOnSanDiego.com - Sep 10)
RUSSIA PINS SOYUZ FAILURE TO PRODUCTION LINE DEFECT - The Russian space agency says a rocket that failed while carrying cargo to the International Space Station on 24 August had a production line defect. A blocked duct cut the fuel supply to the Soyuz-U's third-stage, causing its engine to shut down prematurely, Roskosmos said in a statement. The Soyuz failed to put into orbit its cargo ship, which fell back to Earth. Since the US space shuttle was retired in July, the Russian rockets have become the key link to the station. More (Source: BBC News - Sep 10)
7-TON NASA SATELLITE SET TO FALL - NASA says a defunct seven-ton satellite is due to re-enter the atmosphere — with the potential to rain debris upon Earth. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, is expected to come down in late September or early October, the space agency said today in an advisory. "Although the spacecraft will break into pieces during re-entry, not all of it will burn up in the atmosphere," NASA said. The agency said it's too early to say exactly when UARS will make its final plunge, or exactly where any debris will come down. Russian news reports suggested that Moscow was "in the zone of risk," but that projection was based merely on the inclination of UARS' orbit. More (Source: MSNBC - Sep 9)
SPACE STATION CREW NOT PREPPING FOR SHUTDOWN YET - The astronauts aboard the International Space Station said Tuesday that ground controllers are figuring out how best to leave the vast complex running — what lights to leave on, which vents to keep open — in case it needs to be temporarily abandoned. A Russian rocket carrying space station supplies failed during liftoff two weeks ago and crashed into Siberia. It's the same type of rocket used to launch people to the station. Until Russian engineers can figure out what went wrong, all Soyuz launches are on hold. More (Source: The Associated Press - Sep 7)
SPACE JUNK RISING EXPONENTIALLY - The amount of junk in space is rising exponentially, with continuous collisions between abandoned equipment, spent rockets and other debris creating ever growing clouds of dangerous fragments. A study, commissioned by Nasa, says the quantity of hazardous material circling the Earth has reached a “tipping point” and poses a real and increasing danger to satellites and the International Space Station. More (Source: Golf News - Sep 5)
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