Satellite News

Rocket: Ariane 5GS; Payload: Intelsat 11, Optus D2; Date: 5 October 2007, 2205 UTC; Site: Kourou, French Guiana. After a brief delay, the rocket placed the two Orbital-built satellites in geostationary transfer orbit.

Proton launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, suspended following the Proton crash on 6 September, can be resumed when Kazakhstan damages claims are met, a Kazakh emergencies spokesman said.

NASA has booked two Atlas V launches for two very different satellites: while one is to image the Earth, the other one will go to Jupiter.

Rocket: Delta II Heavy 7925-H; Payload: Dawn; Date: 27 September 2007, 1134 UTC; Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. Following a nominal one hour and two minute flight, the rocket deployed the spacecraft on its eight-year mission to study Ceres and Vesta, two asteroids residing in the vast asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Arianespace plans to market the Indian PSLV and GSLV launchers, the company’s chief executive officer Jean-Yves Le Gall was quoted as saying by AFP.

The planned Chinese space launch centre in Wenchang, Hainan Province, has finally been approved by the country’s government and military, state media reported.

The launch of the second Galileo test satellite, GIOVE-B, will reportedly be delayed by three months.

The planned launch of an Israeli spy satellite aboard an Indian rocket remains somewhat mysterious. No launch date has been announced, and it’s even unclear whether the rocket will carry another payload.