Satellite News

Japan’s last M-V rocket actually had a second payload in addition to Solar-B: HIT-SAT, a tiny amateur radio satellite.

As the launch campaign continues on track, the MetOp-A polar-orbiting weather satellite has been successfully mated to the Fregat upper stage, the European Space Agency said.

Rocket: Delta II (7925); Payload: GPS IIR-15(M); Date: 23 September 2006, 1850 UTC; Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA. The satellite was put in its target orbit about 68 minutes after lift-off.

Rocket: M-V; Payload: Solar-B (Hinode); Date: 22 September 2006, 2136 UTC; Launch Site: Uchinoura Space Center, Japan. The solar observation satellite was successfully put in orbit 8.5 minutes after lift-off.

Lockheed Martin has entered into an agreement with Bigelow Aerospace to pursue the potential of launching passengers on human-qualified Atlas V rockets. The destination would be a Bigelow-built space complex assembled from expandable modules.

New dates have been announced for the launches of DirecTV 9S, Optus D1 and LDREX-2 as well as for Japan’s SOLAR-B probe.

Space shuttle Atlantis made a flawless landing in Florida after a successful 12-day mission. Touchdown occurred at 1021 UTC (0621 local time) at the Shuttle Landing Facility. It was the 21st night landing for a space shuttle and the 15th night landing at the Florida spaceport.

NASA cleared Atlantis for a landing on 21 September after finding that the space shuttle appeared undamaged and concluding the discovery of unexplained space debris did not pose a serious problem.