Satellite News

The upper payload component for Arianespace’s upcoming dual-satellite Ariane 5 mission is now complete at Europe’s Spaceport, following the encapsulation of Hotbird 9 inside the launcher’s payload fairing.

Rocket: Proton M/Briz M; Payload: Ciel II; Date: 10 December 2008, 1343 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellite was successfully deployed by the Briz M upper stage into geostationary transfer orbit at 2255 UTC. Total launch time was 9 hours, 12 minutes.

The launch of NROL-26 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Delta IV Heavy, most recently targeted for 16 November, has been delayed again because of problems with the satellite.

The launch of an Ariane 5 with two telecoms satellites from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana has been moved to 20 December UTC.
Other Posts:Intelsat Wins Rights For Managed Networking Services In BrazilFastweb, Sky Italia Form Joint VentureSES Astra starts broadband via satellite in GermanyEMCORE’s IMM solar cell technology wins R&D 100 AwardKhrunichev takes over control of ILSAntrix leases Measat-3 capacityJapan likely to launch South Korea’s Arirang 3Telenor Issues RFP for New Satellite

South Korea’s ambitious plans to build its own rocket, the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 2 (KSLV 2), have been dealt a serious blow that is expected to delay the project significantly, several papers report.
Other Posts:MacDonald Dettwiler To Supply Imagery Ground StationNew launch date for first ATVLockheed Martin forms human spaceflight line of businessGMV releases hifly v6.0Skynet 5A/Insat 4B pre-launch detailsGlobecomm Introduces SatCell Service Restoration Terminal Using Auto-Explorer TechnologyIntelsat’s Galaxy 17 Goes OperationalOHB Technology acquires 50 percent of RST Raumfahrt Systemtechnik

Arianespace and ViaSat, Inc. have signed a launch contract for the ViaSat-1 satellite.

Arianespace has set the date for the next Ariane 5 launch for Saturday, 20 December 2008.

Alliant Techsystems once again conducted a successful test firing of NASA’s reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM). Data collected during the test will be used to further ensure the safety of the remaining shuttle flights and provide valuable information which will be utilised on the Ares I programme.