Satellite News

ISRO has postponed the full duration test of the indigenous cryogenic rocket engine that was scheduled for today.

Rocket: Soyuz-U; Payload: Progress M-59 (Progress 24P); Date: 18 January 2007, 0212 UTC; Launch Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Less than 10 minutes later, the cargo ship reached orbit, and its solar arrays and navigational antennas were deployed for its trip to the International Space Station.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded a US$109.7 million contract to Aerojet-General Corp., a unit of GenCorp Inc.

SpaceX may make the second attempt to launch its Falcon 1 rocket from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean on 21 January, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said.

At least two upcoming Dnepr launches have been postponed, and the launch date of an Ariane 5 carrying Skynet 5A and INSAT 4B has apparently slipped back further.

XCOR Aerospace announced a series of successful test firings of its new 33.kN (7,500 lbf) thrust rocket engine.

India’s first Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) equipped with an indigenous cryogenic engine will be launched before March next year, said R. V. Perumal, director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).

Snecma recently signed a contract with the European Space Agency concerning the Vinci engine demonstration programme.