Satellite News

[8/31/07 – Satellite News Today] Thales Alenia Space is ready to deliver the Giove-B satellite to the European Space Agency (ESA), the company announced Aug. 30. The production team, led by prime contractor Thales…

[8/31/07 – Satellite News Today] High-speed satellite broadband internet will be available in Germany by the end of September, Eutelsat Communications and ViaSat Inc. announced Aug. 31. The consumer broadband satellite service, dubbed Tooway, will be provided via Ka-band capacity on…

Rocket: GSLV; Payload: INSAT-4CR; Date: 2 September 2007, 1250 UTC; Site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. The satellite was placed in a 168 km x 34,710 km x 20.7 degrees geostationary transfer orbit — not quite the one targeted. ISRO nonetheless declared the launch a success.

Eutelsat Communications and ViaSat Inc. announced that the consumer broadband satellite service they are partnering to offer in Europe will be available from the end of September in Germany, with selected other European markets to follow before the end of the year.

By the beginning of the year 2008 Russia will have 102-103 spacecraft in orbit, according to the head of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), Anatoliy Perminov.

Col-Gen Vladimir Popovkin, Russian Space Forces commander, said that no further orders will be placed for rockets that burn toxic fuel. The date for the first flight of an Angara — the vehicle family that in the end is to replace almost every Russian launcher — has meanwhile further slipped.