Satellite News

Cable television was all the rage for nearly three decades, but no longer. Over the past several years, satellite television providers have been luring millions of people around the world away from their cable companies by offering comparable, or even better, programming options at a highly competitive price. Are you wondering if it’s time for you to make the switch, too?

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Sirius FM-5; Date: 30 June 2009, 1910 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellite was to be deployed at about 0424 UTC (too late for this issue).

DigitalGlobe announced that its WorldView-2 high-resolution eight-band multi-spectral satellite is scheduled to launch aboard a Delta II on 6 October 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Arianespace’s Ariane 5 heavy-lift flight with the world’s largest commercial telecommunications satellite was given the go-ahead for lift-off on 1 July following a launch readiness review.

Turkey plans to have a new telecommunication satellite launched by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012, the country’s Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said.