Satellite News

The first two Soyuz launchers have arrived in French Guiana. They will be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Soyuz launch pad near Sinnamary.

The launch of Eutelsat’s W7 satellite aboard a Proton-M was delayed over repeated changes in schedule by Russian space officials, Kazcosmos said in a statement on its web site. The spacecraft itself is healthy, though, and will soon be transferred to geostationary orbit.

Control of ESA’s GOCE satellite was transferred to the operations teams, marking the end of its commissioning and calibration phase.

The Nigeria Communication Satellite, NigComSat-1, failed in orbit last year because a design flaw, according to the country’s Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Alhassan Bako Zaku.

Eutelsat Communications announced the signature of a far-reaching contract concluded between its Skylogic broadband affiliate and French telecommunications operator SFR.

SES Astra has entered into a partnership with Italian broadcast and network service provider Milano Teleport to offer capacity from its 23.5 degrees East orbital position to Italian broadcasters.

When Gazprom Space Systems in January announced the order of two satellites from Thales Alenia Space, it also somewhat vaguely stated that part of the deal was a “supplier guarantee to provide for investment crediting of the project on the world financial market on beneficial terms. This will allow to attract foreign investments to the Russian orbital constellation development.” What could the last sentence possibly mean?

Rocket: Proton-M/Briz-M; Payload: Eutelsat W7; Date: 24 November 2009, 1419 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule 9 hours and 12 minutes after lift-off.