Satellite News

The launch of the third Inmarsat-4 satellite on board a Proton M/Briz M rocket has been scheduled for 13 August (UTC).

International Launch Services (ILS) has started preparations for the first launch of a Proton-M rocket since the Briz-M upper stage failure in March, Khrunichev State Research and Production Center said.

Rocket: Proton K/Block DM-2; Payload: Kosmos 2440 (?); Date: 27 June 2008, 2359 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The official Kosmos designation for this military satellite, which successfully reached its target orbit, hasn’t been announced yet.

Russia plans to launch a military satellite aboard a Proton-K/Block-DM2 later tonight (UTC).

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) successfully conducted a full launch dress rehearsal and hold down firing of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle on 25 June (Marshall Island Time) on Omelek Island, SpaceX’s launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll.

The third launch attempt of SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket will be delayed at least one month because mandatory support equipment and tracking stations won’t be available before the end of July.

Arianespace said it remains on track for its planned seven Ariane 5 launches in 2008, with three of the missions already performed. The upcoming mission with ProtoStar I and Badr-6 is timed just three weeks after Arianespace’s most recent flight, when an Ariane 5 ECA lofted Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A.

Rocket: Delta II 7320-10; Payload: Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM/Jason 2); Date: 20 June 2008, 0746 UTC; Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. Separation from the launcher and injection of the satellite into orbit occurred 55 minutes after launch, followed by the deployment of the solar array using a pre-defined on-board command sequence.