Satellite News

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) recently ordered the first Minotaur V launch vehicle under the company’s Orbital/Suborbital Program-2 (OSP-2) contract.

Russia will launch a Proton-M carrier rocket on 25 September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to orbit three GLONASS navigation satellites, Roskosmos said.

The launch of Russia’s Meteor-M weather satellite and several smaller spacecraft was postponed because of bad weather and minor technical glitches.

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts ended a 14-day journey of more than 5.7 million miles with a 0053 landing on 12 September at Edwards Air Force Base in California, USA.

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is to launch the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demonstration mission on 19 September.

Russia will launch its new Meteor-M weather satellite on 15 September (local time), Roskosmos said.

A new target launch date of 28 February 2010 has been announced for ESA’s CryoSat mission.

China has begun construction of its new space launch centre in Wenchang City, on the northeast coast of the tropical island province of Hainan, which is scheduled to be completed by 2013.