Satellite News

Rocket: Zenit 3SL/Block DM-SL; Payload: Galaxy 19; Date: 24 September 2008, 0928 UTC; Site: Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned on the equator at 154 degrees West longitude in the Pacific Ocean. Just over an hour later, the Block DM-SL upper stage inserted the 4,690 kg satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

General Dynamics C4 Systems has been awarded a five-year, US$4 million contract by the Hammers Company, Inc., to provide the systems engineering and integration services needed to build the ground-based command and control system for the Mission Operations Element (MOE) of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite.

GHL Acquisition Corp. and Iridium Holdings LLC jointly announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which they plan to combine. The proceeds of the transaction will enable Iridium to be debt free and well positioned to develop its next generation satellite constellation, “Iridium NEXT.”

The latest announcements by ProtoStar could mean the upstart satellite operator has more problems than originally thought. Most notably, the Singaporean government has withdrawn its support. Using a slot provided by Intersputnik instead may not be as easy as claimed, ProtoStar competitor AsiaSat said.

Russia will reportedly launch South Africa’s SumbandilaSat late 2008 or early 2009 — not as originally planned from a submarine but apparently as piggyback payload on a rocket lifting off from Baikonur.

The next Falcon 1 launch will be delayed a few days after SpaceX decided to replace a component in the second stage engine LOX supply line.

Another Proton M launch vehicle, this time carrying three satellites under Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), is scheduled for launch on 25 September (UTC) — just several days after the successful Nimiq 4 launch aboard a Proton M.

Sea Launch company has signed a launch services agreement with O3b Networks Limited for up to two launches in support of their Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) telecommunications satellite constellation, with the first launch set for late 2010.