Satellite News

Alliant Techsystems once again conducted a successful test firing of NASA’s reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM). Data collected during the test will be used to further ensure the safety of the remaining shuttle flights and provide valuable information which will be utilised on the Ares I programme.

The Mercury-bound spacecraft MESSENGER has completed the first part of a two-part deep-space manoeuvre, providing the expected 90 percent of the velocity change needed to place the spacecraft on course to fly by Mercury for the third time in September 2009.

China will team up with Russia to launch two probes to take pictures of Mars and one of the planet’s two small moons, Phobos, in October next year.

Raytheon Company, Northrop Grumman Corp. and the U.S. National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Integrated Program Office successfully completed the next phase of compatibility testing for the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP).

Over the past few weeks, three geostationary satellites suddenly went out of control and started drifting slowly, theoretically posing the risk of a collision with operational satellites in the same orbit. The most problematic of these errant satellites is DSP 23 (a.k.a. USA 197), a Reuters report suggests.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory will launch two years later than previously planned, in autumn 2011.

NASA announced that space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is targeted to launch on 12 May 2009.

The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) said it has upgraded ground satellite control and monitoring system to support the new Ekspress-AM44 and Ekspress-MD1 telecommunications satellites.