PAKSAT-1R LAUNCH IN CHINA THIS WEEK - Paksat-1R, a Pakistani geostationary and an advanced communication satellite, is due to be launched in space from a Chinese satellite launching site in Xichang city in the second week of August, depending on weather conditions. Paksat-1R will replace Paksat-1, which is going to complete its useful life this year.    More
(Source: The Nation, Pakistan - Aug 10)

IRAN TO SEND NEW HOME-MADE SATELLITE TO HIGHER ALTITUDE - Iran announced that it plans to send a new home-made satellite to higher altitudes, at least, 36,000km away from the Earth. The student satellite said to be the best home-made one in the country is built by students of Iranian prestigious Sharif University of Technology.    More
(Source: Fars News Agency - Aug 9)

ARIANE 5 ROCKET LAUNCHED FROM FRENCH GUIANA, CARRIES 2 TELECOM SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - The European space consortium Arianespace has launched two television broadcasting satellites into orbit from its Guiana Space Center in South America. One satellite taken aloft Saturday by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket is owned by Luxembourg-based SES Astra. The other is owned by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems of the U.S. under contract for Japan’s B-SAT Corp. and SKY Perfect JSAT Corp.    More
(Source: Washington Post - Aug 7)

HAM RADIO'S NEWEST SATELLITE IS SENDING SIGNALS FROM ORBIT - After months of delay, ARISSat-1 is finally orbiting our planet, giving ham radio operators another signal to seek, and the chance to try out new communications technology. ARISSat-1 was launched from the International Space Station on August 3rd, during a lengthy spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), based in Newington, CT, was involved in ARISSat's development, along with AMSAT - the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, which promotes amateur radio and space technology. "There is always an increased flurry of ham radio satellite activity whenever a new bird comes over the horizon," said Allen Pitts, ARRL spokesman.    More
(Source: Examiner.com - Aug 7)

ARISSAT-1 FINALLY DEPLOYED FROM ISS - After a delay of almost four hours, cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, RU3DIS, and Alexander Samokutyaev, successfully deployed Amateur Radio’s newest satellite: ARISSat-1/KEDR. The deployment -- originally scheduled to occur at 1457 UTC on Wednesday, August 3 -- was delayed due to antenna concerns. According to US Mission Control in Houston, ARISSat-1 was supposed to have two antennas -- one 70 cm antenna and one 2 meter antenna -- but Volkov and Samokutyaev expressed concern when they saw only one antenna. After discussions between the cosmonauts, the payload manager and the ground teams in Houston and Moscow, it was decided to delay the deployment.    More
(Source: ARRL - Aug 4)

RUSSIAN SPACEWALKERS TO MOVE CARGO BOOM, DEPLOY HAM RADIO SATELLITE - Two Russian cosmonauts will leave the confines of the International Space Station on Aug.3 to move a cargo boom from one airlock to another, install a prototype laser communications system and deploy an amateur radio micro-satellite. Expedition 28 Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev are scheduled to venture outside the Pirs airlock at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday to begin the six-hour excursion. Both spacewalkers will wear Russian Orlan-MK spacesuits. Coverage of the spacewalk will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 10 a.m. EDT.    More
(Source: NASA - Aug 3)

CHINA LAUNCHES ANOTHER EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE - China launched an experimental orbiter into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province on Friday. The SJ-11-02 orbiter was sent into space at 3:42 p.m. by a Long March II-C carrier rocket, according to the launch center. The orbiter belongs to the country's Shijian satellite family.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Aug 2)

ANOTHER CHINESE NAVIGATION SATELLITE LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT - Launching in a torrential rain and lightning storm, a Long March rocket lifted off Tuesday from southwest China and successfully released a navigation satellite in orbit, state-run media reported. The Long March 3A rocket launched at 2144 GMT (5:44 p.m. EDT) from the Xichang space center in southwest China's Sichuan province, according to the Xinhua news agency. The blastoff was at 5:44 a.m. local time and occurred amid heavy rain and lightning, Xinhua reported.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Jul 27)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO BE 'SUNK' AFTER 2020 - Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to leave space junk, the space agency said on Wednesday. "After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it's too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish," said deputy head of Roskosmos space agency Vitaly Davydov. "Right now we've agreed with our partners that the station will be used until approximately 2020," he said in comments released on Wednesday.    More
(Source: Yahoo News - Jul 27)

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