Satellite News

Eutelsat Communications and SES Astra announced the appointment, with immediate effect, of Steve Maine as CEO of their jointly-owned venture offering Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in S-Band.

Shin Satellite Public Company Limited reported its 2007 financial results. The company also said it was studying options to purchase a new satellite or forge partnerships with other Asian satellite operators.

Ulysses, a joint ESA/NASA mission to study the Sun’s poles and the influence of the star on surrounding space, is coming to an end after almost four times its expected lifetime. An attempt to extend its life by saving power failed in January.

China hopes to launch its second moon-orbiting satellite in 2009, state media reported. The news came after scientists regained contact with the country’s first lunar satellite Chang’e-1.

The Japanese space agency plans to launch its high-speed Internet satellite Kizuna (or Wideband Inter-Networking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite, WINDS) from Tanegashima Space Center aboard an H-IIA on 23 February (UTC).