WINDS ALOFT KEEP ARIANE 5 ROCKET ON THE LAUNCH PAD - Tuesday's planned launch of the year's sixth and final Ariane 5 rocket from South America was postponed due to unfavorable high-altitude winds. Liftoff had been scheduled for 2126 GMT (4:26 p.m. EST) from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana, but the countdown was halted at the Minus-7 minute mark because of the winds aloft. After waiting a half-hour into the evening's 59-minute launch opportunity, officials declared a scrub for the day. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Dec 29)
KA-SAT EUROPEAN BROADBAND SATELLITE LAUNCHES SUCCESSFULLY - A satellite intended to boost broadband Internet service in Europe and the Mediterranean region launched successfully on Sunday from the Baïkonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The KA-SAT satellite from Eutelsat Communications was sent into orbit thanks to a Proton Breeze M rocket supplied by Virginia-based International Launch Services. ILS has the exclusive rights for worldwide commercial sales and mission management of satellites launched on Russia's Proton vehicle, the company said. KA-SAT was released from the launcher after a 9-hour and 12-minute flight. More (Source: PC Magazine - Dec 29)
RUSSIA'S PROTON-M TO LAUNCH EUROPEAN TELECOMS SATELLITE - Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket will launch a European telecommunications satellite Ka-Sat from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Monday. The launch of the six-tonne Ka-Sat will become the twelfth for Proton-M carrier rocket this year and the 363rd in its history. Ka-Sat is made by EADS Astrium for Eutelsat, a leading provider of satellite telecommunications in Europe. This will be the first launch of Proton-M carrier rocket after it veered off course and sunk in the Pacific Ocean on December 5, losing three Glonass-M satellites, a spokesman for Roscosmos said. More (Source: RIA Novosti - Dec 26)
INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM HIT BY ANOTHER LAUNCH MISHAP - India's largest rocket lost control and erupted in a fireball Saturday, dealing another blow to the country's space program after back-to-back failures of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 167-foot-tall launcher blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 1034 GMT (5:34 a.m. EST), or just after 4 p.m. local time Saturday. The launch site is on Sriharikota Island on the east coast of India. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Dec 26)
EURO SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED BY RUSSIAN ROCKET - On December 27th the Russian Proton rocket sends into orbit a telecommunications satellite for the European Eutelsat. This was reported by the American company International Launch Services, a majority share in which belongs to the Khrunichev State Space Center. The launch will be made from Baikonur. The satellite was constructed by the European consortium “EADS Astrium” and is designed to provide digital broadcasting, telephony and broadband Internet access services. More (Source: The Voice of Russia - Dec 24)
INDIA TO LAUNCH ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE DEC 25 - Chennai, Dec 22 (IANS) With investigations into a leak in a rocket engine's valve providing satisfactory results Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will celebrate Christmas by launching an advanced communications satellite, an official. 'The test results are satisfactory and the rocket's launch is scheduled Dec 25. The launch countdown will begin 11 a.m. Friday,' S. Satish, a director at ISRO, told IANS. The rocket carrying the GSAT-5P satellite is expected to blast off from the second launch pad between 4 p.m.-4.15 p.m. Saturday. More (Source: Sify - Dec 23)
THE RUSSIAN FLIGHT CONTROL CENTER TO ADJUST ISS ORBIT FOR DOCKING WITH SPACECRAFT - The Russian Flight Control Center (FCC) is to carry out an operation Wednesday to adjust the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) so as to create favorable conditions for the station's docking with the resupply spacecraft Progress and the America space shuttle Discovery. An FCC official has told Itar-Tass, "In accordance with the programme for ballistic ensurance of the ISS flight, an ISS orbit adjusting maneuver is scheduled for December 22". "The maneuver will be carried out with the use of eight berthing and orientation engines of the supply spacecraft Progress M-07M, which is docked with the assembly compartment of the service module Zvezda (star). More (Source: ITAR-TASS - Dec 23)
DISCOVERY MAKES RETURN TRIP TO ASSEMBLY BUILDING - Leaving the launch pad and rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building overnight, the space shuttle Discovery will spend the holidays having the external tank digitally X-rayed as engineers look to prove the hypothesis that its structural cracks resulted from pent up stresses accumulated during construction and were unleashed during the strains of cryogenic fueling. The crack problem dates back to Discovery's initial launch attempt Nov. 5 when a chunk of outer insulating foam on the external tank broke during fueling. The subsequent investigation revealed that two underlying U-shaped support beams in the tank's ribbed midsection had cracked, displacing the covering foam. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Dec 23)
INDIAN, RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS DISCUSS ROCKET LAUNCH DELAY - Chennai, Dec 20 (IANS) Indian and Russian space scientists are discussing the remedial measures that need to be taken after a leak was detected in the cryogenic engine of a rocket that was to place an advanced communications satellite into orbit Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Sunday decided to postpone the rocket's launch after it detected the leak in one of the valves of the Russian-made cryogenic engine during the pre-countdown mandatory tests even as the 51-metre tall rocket was on the launch pad. More (Source: Sify - Dec 21)
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