Satellite News

The half-official announcement last Saturday regarding the impending re-entry of a U.S. spy satellite into the Earth’s atmosphere created a deluge of media reports over the weekend. Their content ranged from “we’re about to be hit by [a satellite] the size of a bus” (The Scotsman) to “Why the spy satellite won’t fall on your head” (New Scientist).

Boeing announced the successful on-orbit handover of the first of six Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites to the U.S. Air Force. The spacecraft was launched on 10 October 2007 aboard an Atlas V.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) said it recently conducted the first multi-engine firing of its Falcon 9 medium to heavy lift rocket at its Texas Test Facility outside McGregor.

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Ekspress-AM33; Date: 29 January 2008, 0018 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Contact with the spacecraft was established nine hours after lift-off.