SEPT LAUNCH EXPECTED FOR DEBRIS-WATCHING SATELLITE - A new satellite that will monitor the clutter in orbit around the Earth is now expected to launch in late September, more than two months later than originally scheduled. The Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite was grounded first by concerns about software in the Minotaur IV rocket and then by a problem in some connectors in the rocket's electronics. Officials announced the second set of problems Thursday. They say there are no problems in the satellite itself. More (Source: KSWT-TV - Aug 13)
NEW SPY SATELLITE LAUNCHED BY LONG MARCH ROCKET - A secret Chinese reconnaissance payload successfully launched on a Long March rocket Monday, the sixth time China has sent a satellite into orbit so far this year. The tenth Yaogan mission lifted off aboard a Long March 4C rocket at 2249 GMT (6:49 p.m. EDT) from the Taiyuan launching center in northern China's Shanxi province. It was 6:49 a.m. local time at Taiyuan. The three-stage booster placed the spacecraft in an orbit about 380 miles high with an inclination of 97.8 degrees, according to independent tracking data. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Aug 11)
FUNNEL CLOUD HANGS OVER LAUNCH PAD - A funnel cloud appeared over the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, hanging over the space shuttle's launch complex and triggering warning sirens. The funnel dropped from a pop-up thunderstorm just before 1:30 p.m. EDT, but the swirling cloud never touched down on land or in the Atlantic Ocean offshore KSC. It appeared over launch pad 39B as viewed from the KSC press site near the Vehicle Assembly Building. Tornado sirens at the space center blared for a few minutes as the funnel drifted near the beach. The warning horn cut off as the funnel dissipated and moved out of the area. More (Source: Space Flight now - Aug 8)
ARIANE 5 ROCKET POWERS AFRICAN SATELLITES TO ORBIT - Europe's Ariane 5 rocket accomplished its third commercial mission of the year Wednesday, delivering to orbit two African communications satellites to broadcast television programming and boost connectivity with rural villages. The 166-foot-tall launcher took off at 2059 GMT (4:59 p.m. EDT) and soared into partly cloudy skies over the French-run space base in Kourou, French Guiana. After turning east from the South American coast, the Ariane 5 rocketed into the upper atmosphere and shed its twin solid rocket boosters about 2 minutes, 15 seconds after liftoff. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Aug 5)
BALL DELIVERS MILITARY SATELLITE - Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has shipped the STPSat-2 satellite built for the U.S. Air Force to Alaska's Kodiak Launch Complex. The satellite, the first spacecraft for the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program Standard Interface Vehicle program, supports the Operationally Responsive Space strategy to ensure U.S. space superiority. It is scheduled for launch aboard a Minotaur 4 rocket in the fall. Ball said the STPSat-2 spacecraft provides a standard interface compatible for multiple launch vehicles that support a variety of experimental and risk-reduction payloads at different low-Earth orbits. More (Source: UPI.com - Aug 5)
WEDNESDAY'S ARIANE 5 ROCKET LAUNCH WILL BENEFIT AFRICA - Two African communications satellite will blast off aboard an Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday, giving a boost to burgeoning direct broadcasting markets and helping connect remote villages with urban centers. The tandem-payload mission is due for liftoff at 2045 GMT (4:45 p.m. EDT) Wednesday, the opening of a lengthy launch window that extends to 2334 GMT (7:34 p.m. EDT). More (Source: Space Flight Now - Aug 4)
SPACE STATION MALFUNCTION PROMPTS SHUTDOWNS - One of two coolant systems aboard the International Space Station malfunctioned late Saturday, triggering alarms and extensive power shutdowns to keep critical systems from overheating. The apparent failure of an ammonia pump in coolant loop A forced flight controllers to shut down two of four stabilizing gyroscopes, used to help control the space station’s orientation, one communications channel and several computer control units. The astronauts also installed jumpers between the Russian Zarya propulsion module and the U.S. segment of the lab complex to maintain proper cooling. More (Source: New York Times - Aug 1)
SATELLITE OPERATORS TEAM TO AVOID COLLISIONS - A new cooperative data tool will help keep geostationary commercial communications satellites from colliding or causing signal interference, a service its initiators hope to extend to government spacecraft and satellites in low Earth orbit as well. Spurred in part by the February 2009 collision between an active Iridium spacecraft and a defunct Russian military-communications satellite, the new Space Data Center automatically plots conjunctions in the orbits of satellites owned by participating operators and alerts their control centers to the problem. More (Source: SatNews Publishers - Aug 1)
LONG MARCH ROCKET DELIVERS CHINESE SATELLITE TO SPACE - Another Chinese navigation satellite blasted off late Saturday on its way to a 22,000-mile-high perch above Earth to bolster the government-owned fleet of Beidou positioning spacecraft. A three-stage Long March 3A rocket lifted off at 2130 GMT (5:30 p.m. EDT) Saturday from the Xichang space base in Sichuan province in southwestern China, where it was 5:30 a.m. Sunday, according to state media reports. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Aug 1)
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