Satellite News

The Expedition 33 crew demonstrated the ability of the International Space Station to deploy satellites on 4 October. Several tiny satellites were released outside the Kibo laboratory using the new Small Satellite Orbital Deployer attached to the Japanese module’s robotic arm.

Rocket: Delta IV Medium-plus; Payload: GPS IIF-3 (SVN-65); Date: 4 October 2012, 1210 UTC; Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. Controllers confirmed initial contact with the spacecraft at 1543 UTC. The satellite’s GPS signals will be turned on and tested within a few days.

The largest and most powerful solid rocket booster ever built for flight is being assembled for NASA’s Space Launch System at ATK Space Systems in Brigham City, Utah, incorporating new cost-savings measures. The SLS will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft and other payloads beyond low Earth orbit, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.
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Globalstar, Inc., announced that the deployment of its second-generation constellation has entered the home stretch with the planning of an early February Soyuz launch with its launch services provider, Arianespace.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: VRSS-1 (Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite) ‘Francisco Miranda’; Date: 30 September 2012, 0412 UTC; Launch site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The launch marked China’s first in-orbit delivery of a remote sensing satellite to an international customer.
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The U.S. Defense Department has awarded United Launch Alliance a contract valued at US$1.17 billion to provide satellite launches using its Delta IV and Atlas V rockets.
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The twin Galileo satellites are now fully fuelled and mated together atop the upper stage that will haul them most of the way up to their final orbit. The launch is now planned for the evening of 12 October.
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Orbital Sciences Corporation has it has commenced Antares launch vehicle operations at the liquid-fuel launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). Following a four-year design, development, construction, test and inspection process, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA), which oversees MARS, has authorised Orbital to begin on-pad operations.
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