Satellite News

The first Vega launch campaign began on 14 November at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with the installation of the first stage on the pad. Europe’s new small launcher is on track for its maiden flight at the end of January.
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Up to four launches of Zenit-3SL rockets could be carried out in 2012 under the Sea Launch project, RSC Energia President and General Design Engineer Vitaly Lopota was quoted as saying.
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Arianespace and DirecTV announced a new launch contract for a satellite providing services for DirecTV Latin America. The launch will take place in 2014 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on an Ariane 5.
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Rocket: Chang Zheng 4B; Payload: Yaogan 12 (YG 12), Tianxun 1; Date: 9 November 2011, 0321 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The launch was declared a success.
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International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat announced a contract for the launch of the W3D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit on an ILS Proton in 2013.
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NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine on 9 November, marking another step in development of an upper stage for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS).
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Rocket: Zenit-2SB; Payload: Fobos-Grunt [Phobos-Grunt]; Date: 8 November 2011, 2016 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Russia’s Federal Space Agency said the craft separated successfully from the booster about 11 minutes later.
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On 7 November, for the first time in the history of Arianespace, the company’s operating teams were all deployed concurrently on the Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launch pads at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, near the Equator, for three launch preparation campaigns.
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