TAIWAN, SINGAPORE LAUNCH SATELLITE - Taiwanese telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom has launched its second communications satellite in a joint venture with Singapore Telecommunications. The launch of the ST-2 satellite took place from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana late Friday local time, Taiwan's state-funded Central News Agency reported. The satellite will have a life span of 15 years and will replace the ageing ST-1 satellite that Chunghwa Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications put into orbit in 1998, according to the agency. More (Source: NEWS.com.au - May 23)
SATELLITE LAUNCH WITH CHINA PLANNED - The country would launch a communication satellite together with China on August 14 as a part of Independence Day celebrations, the local newspaper Dawn reported on Saturday. The new communication satellite would replace the SAT-1 which is on the verge of expiry, Dawn quoted an official in Beijing as saying. The satellite would go into orbit on August 14 as a mark of friendship between Pakistan and China, an official said after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s visit to China’s Academy of Space Technology on Friday. More (Source: Oman Tribune - May 23)
NEXT-GENERATION WEATHER SATELLITE READY FOR OCT. 25 LAUNCH - Ball Aerospace workers have successfully completed two months of subjecting the next-generation U.S. weather satellite to the rigors of launch and space. The car-size orbiter — called NPP, for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project — is set for an Oct. 25 launch. The NPP — a collaboration of NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense and private contractors such as Ball — will continue what experts call the critical monitoring of weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and near-space environment. More (Source: Denver Post - May 19)
NASA OCEAN-WATCH SATELLITE READY FOR JUNE LAUNCH - The US space agency said Tuesday it is preparing to launch a satellite to observe levels of salt on the surface of the world's oceans and how changes in salinity may be linked to future climate. The June 9 launch of Aquarius/SAC-D comes three months after NASA lost Glory, a 424-million-dollar Earth-observing satellite that failed to separate properly from its rocket launcher and plunged into the ocean. The orbiting science instrument will aim to map the entire open ocean every seven days from its position 408 miles (657 kilometers) above Earth, producing monthly estimates that show how salt levels change over time and location. More (Source: AFP - May 19)
BANGALORE: LAUNCH OF INDIAN SATELLITE PUT OFF TO MAY 21 - The launch of and Indian geo-stationary satellite (GSAT-8) on board an Ariane-V rocket from Kourou in French Guiana has been postponed by a day to May 21, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said late Monday. "The launch postponement has been necessitated for certain additional inspection by the launch agency Arianespace. The timing of the launch will be confirmed soon," the Indian space agency said in a statement here. The indigenously built 3.1-tonne (3,100kg) GSAT-8 has 24 Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home (DTH) services by state-run and private broadcasters. More (Source: Mangalorean.com - May 18)
SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF FROM FLORIDA - The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday on its final voyage which will deliver a pioneering physics experiment to the International Space Station. Endeavour roared off the launch pad at 8:56 a.m. EDT, carrying a six-member crew. The U.S. space agency NASA plans just one more shuttle mission this summer with sister ship Atlantis before ending the 30-year-old shuttle program. More (Source: Reuters - May 16)
NASA: SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR 'GOOD TO GO' FOR MONDAY LAUNCH - Thanks to positive results on all pre-flight checks, NASA officials on Saturday unanimously gave the go-ahead for the Monday launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. "The system looks good, the weather looks good, and we should be in good shape for launch," NASA Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses told reporters Saturday. "In our minds, we are good to go." An estimated 500,000 people are expected to be on hand Monday at the Kennedy Space Center, said NASA's shuttle launch director Michael D. Leinbach. Lift-off is scheduled for 8:56 a.m More (Source: CNN - May 15)
HOSTED PAYLOAD HOLDING UP LAUNCH OF SES-2 - Satellite fleet operator SES on May 12 said the launch of its SES-2 telecommunications spacecraft, which carries an experimental infrared sensor for the U.S. Air Force, has slipped again and will not occur before August. SES also said another one of its satellites has been delayed by late delivery of a Kazakh satellite sharing the same launch. Luxembourg-based SES said neither satellite’s delay will have an effect on its 2011 revenue. Both delays appear to be examples of the down side to sharing satellite missions. More (Source: Space News - May 14)
JAPANESE SATELLITE DECLARED DEAD IN ORBIT - Japan's Earth-observing satellite Daichi is dead in orbit, three weeks after a mysterious anomaly crippled the spacecraft, the nation's space agency announced today (May 12). Daichi, formally known as the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), unexpectedly powered down on April 22 for reasons that remain murky. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) repeatedly tried to re-establish communication with Daichi over several weeks, but finally threw in the towel today. "We decided to complete its operations by sending a command from the ground to halt its onboard transmitter and batteries at 10:50 a.m. on May 12 (Japan Standard Time), as we found it was impossible to recover communication with the satellite," JAXA officials said in a statement. More (Source: Space.com - May 14)
Previous Next
