CARGO CRAFT BEGINS PURSUIT OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Just a week before the shuttle Discovery arrives at the International Space Station for its construction mission, a Russian resupply ship has launched to deliver a load of equipment, fuel and provisions to the orbiting science laboratory. Liftoff of the cargo freighter atop a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan occurred today at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT). The preliminary orbit was achieved after a nine-minute ascent provided by the three-stage rocket, and onboard commands were issued to unfurl the craft's communications and navigation antennas and extend two power-generating solar arrays that span 35 feet.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 29)

RECYCLED MILITARY JETS SERVE AS SATELLITE LAUNCHERS - Space is quickly becoming a less remote place as dozens of universities and organizations prepare to launch small satellites in the coming years. For now, however, these mini-satellites must piggyback their way as secondary payloads, meaning operators have little control over the timing of a launch or on reaching a desired orbital altitude for their mission goals. A number of companies aim to eliminate these when and where-to whims not to mention cutting down on costs — by offering dedicated small satellite launching services.    More
(Source: MSNBC - Oct 29)

NEW INTELSAT SATELLITE DELIVERED TO LAUNCH BASE - Space Systems/Loral reports that a communications satellite that it designed and built for Intelsat arrived safely at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where it is scheduled to launch in November aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. "Intelsat 17 was delivered to launch base nearly two months ahead of the contract delivery date," said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Oct 29)

SPACE STATION DODGES PIECE OF OLD NASA SATELLITE, NO BIG IMPACT ON MONDAY SHUTTLE LAUNCH - The International Space Station has steered clear of space junk. Flight controllers fired thrusters on the space station Tuesday morning. That moved the orbiting lab and its crew of six safely away from a chunk of an old NASA research satellite. The debris originally was projected to come within one-tenth of a mile (about 160 metres) of the space station. The latest estimate put the close approach at a half-mile (800 metres). Because of the uncertainty, NASA elected to move the space station.    More
(Source: The Canadian Press - Oct 28)

EUROPE CLOSER TO INDEPENDENT SATELLITE NAVIGATION - The European Space Agency has signed a fourth contract, out of a total of six, for the setting up of Galileo, Europe's global navigation satellite program, the European Commission announced on Tuesday. The new contract is for the procurement of full operations capability for Galileo. The contract, valued at some 194 million euros (about 267 million U.S. dollars), was signed by the European Space Agency on behalf of the European Commission and awarded to a German and Italian joint venture, SpaceOpal GmbH. The company will be in charge of operations of the space and ground infrastructure.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Oct 28)

SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY TO LAUNCH MONDAY - NASA as expected set Nov. 1 as the official launch date for shuttle Discovery's final mission at the conclusion of a flight readiness review here. Six astronauts will climb aboard Discovery at pad 39A next Monday, aiming to set sail for the International Space Station at 4:40 p.m. ET NASA must launch the mission by Nov. 7 or delay the flight until late November or early December. The sun angle on the station from Nov. 8 through Nov. 23 will be such that the outpost will not be able to generate enough electricity or dispel enough heat to support a docked shuttle.    More
(Source: USA Today - Oct 27)

SHUTTLE DISCOVERY CLEARED FOR BLASTOFF NEXT MONDAY - After reviewing normal processing and weekend work to fix a small fuel leak, NASA managers Monday cleared the shuttle Discovery for an election-eve launch Nov. 1 to begin a space station resupply mission, the orbiter's 39th and final flight. Testing indicates new seals in a suspect flange are properly seated and holding pressure with no signs of additional seepage. Assuming no other problems develop, engineers believe they will be ready to start Discovery's countdown at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) Friday, setting up a launch attempt at 4:40:26 p.m. EDT (2040:26 GMT) Monday.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 26)

NASA READIES SHUTTLE DISCOVERY FOR FINAL MISSION - The countdown is on: NASA has only two shuttle launches left. The U.S. space agency is retiring its shuttle fleet next year and encouraging the development of commercial human spaceflight vehicles. Space shuttle Discovery is set to launch November 1 Last week, engineers found that Discovery had developed a fuel leak. John Shannon, the space shuttle program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas, says engineers have the situation under control.    More
(Source: Voice of America - Oct 25)

NASA'S EXTRA SHUTTLE FLIGHT HANGS IN THE BALANCE - Less than two weeks before the space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on its last flight, uncertainty still remains as to exactly when NASA's very final orbiter mission will fly, bringing the storied shuttle era to a close next year. NASA has two scheduled shuttle missions, on Discovery and Endeavour, left to fly before retiring its orbiter fleet in 2011. A third, extra shuttle mission has been approved by Congress and President Obama, but still faces review by congressional appropriators later this year.    More
(Source: MSNBC - Oct 25)

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