Satellite News

Rocket: Proton-K/DM-2; Payload: three Uragan-M navigation satellites [likely to be designated Kosmos 2426, Kosmos 2427, Kosmos 2428]; Date: 25 December 2006, 2018 UTC; Launch Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellites were to be deployed from the Block DM-2 upper stage at around 2350 UTC [too late for this issue].

Fengyun-2D, China’s recently launched second geostationary meteorological satellite, “has been in stable working conditions since the tests began on 14 December,” the China Meteorological Administration said.

Rocket: Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat; Payload: Meridian 1 (Meridian N1); Date: 24 December 2006, 0834 UTC; Launch Site: Plesetsk, Russia. The satellite reached its target orbit at 1535 UTC.

The launch of the Russian Meridian military telecommunication satellite aboard a Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat has been postponed for the second time.

EchoStar Communications Corporation announced that its DISH Network passed the 13 million customer milestone.

News Corporation announced that it had signed a share exchange agreement with Liberty Media Corporation.

China recently reported breakthroughs in space tracking and control technology, according to People’s Daily.

Lockheed Martin announced that it has delivered ahead of schedule the flight structure for the third space vehicle in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) programme to the company’s Mississippi facility.