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)
U.S. MILITARY LAUNCHES NEW MISSILE WARNING SATELLITE INTO SPACE - A new U.S. military satellite launched into orbit Saturday (May 7) on a mission to enhance the country's missile defense and detection capabilities. The satellite blasted off atop an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from a seaside pad here at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT). The mission had been delayed one day due to bad weather. The Atlas 5 rocket carried the first satellite in the U.S. military's planned four-satellite Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). The satellites, the first of which is called GEO-1, will replace the military's Defense Support Program satellites that are currently in orbit. More (Source: Space.com - May 8)
SATELLITES MADE OSAMA BIN LADEN RAID POSSIBLE - Intelligence officials and a top secret U.S. military strike team called upon a fleet of navigation, communications and imaging satellites in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. With President Barack Obama and his national security team following events from the White House, a group of elite U.S. Navy special forces operators rode helicopters Sunday night to the sprawling compound occupied by Osama bin Laden, killing the wanted terrorist and taking custody of his body. Situated in Abbottabad, a city just outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the compound was surrounded by walls up to 18 feet high and topped with razor wire. Its existence and location were confirmed in August 2010 after years of questioning detainees and tracking couriers U.S. intelligence officials believed were linked to bin Laden. More (Source: Space Flight Now - May 6)
U.S. TO LAUNCH MISSILE-TRACKING SATELLITE - The United States is due on Friday to fire into orbit the first of four geosynchronous satellites for the planned Space-Based Infrared System from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Innovation News Daily reported. The launch of the $1.3 billion craft would mark a significant milestone in the deployment of the system, which officials said is expected to markedly improve the nation's ability to detect, track and counter potential enemy missiles. More (Source: Global Security Newswire - May 6)
ENDEAVOR TO DELIVER STAMP SIZED "SPRITE" MICRO-SATELLITE EXPERIMENT TO ISS - The Space Shuttle Endeavor currently sits on the launch pad awaiting her final launch. On board is a tiny experiment that, if successful, could become a new and inexpensive tool for the exploration of space. Developed by Cornell University's Space Systems Design Studio, these postage stamp sized satellites named "Sprites" are to be mounted on the International Space Station's (ISS) Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) pallet. They will be mounted externally so that they may experience the full affects of space. More (Source: Examiner.com - May 3)
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