Satellite News

Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar satellite will be launched on 1 November, the country’s President Hugo Chavez said.

Iran launched a Safir 1 rocket on 17 August. It is unclear what payload the vehicle was carrying, and there are strong indications that the launch was in fact a failure — like the last attempt in February 2008.

GeoEye, Inc. announced the Air Force 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base has approved the 4 September launch date for GeoEye-1 clearing the way to complete final preparations for launch.

Contact has been established with the two satellites launched yesterday by an Ariane 5ECA.

Rocket: Ariane 5ECA; Payload: AMC 21, Superbird 7; Date: 14. August 2008, 2044 UTC; Site: Kourou, French Guiana. The two satellites were successfully placed in geostationary transfer orbit.

The launch of Measat 3A will be delayed at least several weeks. In contrast to initial reports, however, it is not yet certain whether the satellite will have to be returned to its manufacturer, Orbital Sciences, for repairs.

GeoEye, Inc. announced that United Launch Alliance (ULA) has initiated a change in the target launch date for GeoEye-1 from 22 August to 4 September 2008. The launch time remains at 1850:57 UTC.

Measat 3A will not be launched as planned on 21 August by a Land Launch Zenit 3SLB because of problems with the satellite.