Satellite News

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have announced the date for the next H-IIA launch.

Previously scheduled to launch aboard a Minotaur I SLV from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in October 2008, TacSat-3’s lift-off is now scheduled for January 2009.

South Korea’s multipurpose satellite Arirang 3, now under development, will likely be launched on a Japanese rocket in 2011, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B; Payload: Venesat 1 (Simon Bolivar 1); Date: 29 October 2008, 1653 UTC; Site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. Venezuela’s first communication satellite was successfully placed into transfer orbit.

The launch of Astra 1M aboard a Proton M/Briz M has been delayed again.

The sixth (and final) Ariane 5 of 2008 has been accepted by Arianespace following its transfer to the Final Assembly Building at Europe’s Spaceport, where the launch vehicle’s dual-satellite payload will be integrated.

Preparations are under way in Baikonur to launch Proton M/Briz M launch vehicle with the Astra 1M satellite.

China plans to launch Venezuela’s first communication satellite this week, state media reported.