Satellite News

The U.S. Air Force has awarded a US$49.5 million contract to Boeing Co. for one Delta II launch vehicle in standard 7925-9.5 configuration to launch the final GPS IIR satellite.

Aerojet said it recently conducted an internally-funded static firing of a key Launch Abort System component. Orion’s Launch Abort System is a new capability that will allow the astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch.

NASA officials have announced that Space Shuttle Atlantis will roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repair after a hail storm damaged its external tanks on 26 February.

The construction site of the Soyuz launch base in French Guiana was officially opened on 26 February by Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, Yannick d’Escatha, President of CNES, Jean-Yves Le Gall, Director General of Arianespace, and Anatoly Perminov, Head of Roskosmos.

NASA has selected Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International Inc.to design, develop, fabricate, test and deliver engineering models of a turbine pump assembly for the Ares I upper stage thrust vector control subsystem.

Rocket: H-2A; Payload: IGS Radar 2 (IGS 3B?), IGS Optical 3 (IGS 4A?); Date: 24 February 2007, 0441 UTC; Launch Site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The satellites were successfully launched after three weather-related delays without any problem.

Arianespace announced that it will launch the AMC-21 telecommunications satellite. SES Americom had originally booked a Zenit 3-SLB launch for the spacecraft.

JAXA said that the launch of an H-2A rocket to carry a radar spy satellite has been rescheduled for 24 February local time, citing predicted poor weather around the Kagoshima Prefecture launch site.