Satellite News

Rocket: Delta II 7420-10; Payload: COSMO-SkyMed 3 [COSMO 3]; Date: 25 October 2008, 0228 UTC; Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The spacecraft was deployed to low-Earth orbit approximately 58 minutes after lift-off.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4B; Payload: Shijian 6-3A, Shijian 6-3B [this is a guess as individual satellite names were not published]; Date: 25 October 2008, 0015 UTC; Site: Taiyuan Launch Center, China. Both satellites separated from the rocket and entered orbit 12 minutes after lift-off.

ESA’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) will not be launched before February 2009 because it will take at least two months to fix the problem with the launcher’s upper stage.

The Zefiro 9-A motor successfully completed its first firing test at the Salto di Quirra Inter-force Test Range in Sardinia (Italy). This was the penultimate firing test for the engine prior to the Vega launcher’s qualification flight, scheduled to take place by the end of 2009.

China will launch a group of Shijian research satellites on 25 October (likely local time), Xinhua news agency reported.

Rocket: PSLV; Payload: Chandrayaan-1; Date: 22 October, 0052 UTC; Site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C11, successfully launched the 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1 moon probe into a 255 km x 22,860 km x 17.9 degrees transfer orbit.

Arianespace and Thales Alenia Space announced the signature of a launch contract for the pan-African communications satellite, Rascom-QAF 1R. In addition, tentative dates have been set for the next two Ariane 5 flights.

A United Launch Alliance Delta II is scheduled to launch COSMO-SkyMed 3 for Boeing Launch Services and Thales Alenia Space on 25 October at 0228 UTC with a one second launch window from Vandenberg Air Force Base.