Satellite News

“Today there is no clarity why the propulsion unit on board Fobos-Grunt failed to start. It is also unclear why our satellites often have failures at the time when they fly out of range (of Russian ground control) where we don’t see the vehicle and do not receive telemetry from it. There is no wish to accuse anybody, but today there are very powerful means of influence on spacecraft and the possibility of their use can not be excluded.” – Vladimir Popovkin, head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, in an interview with the Izvestiya daily.
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“The one inescapable conclusion from two rounds of independent testing is that the incompatibility problem is not caused by LightSquared’s network. It is clear that GPS devices are purposefully designed to look into LightSquared’s licensed spectrum.” – Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared’s executive vice president for regulatory affairs and public policyOther Posts:ViaSat’s First-Quarter Earnings Fall FlatWatch Your Favorite Dish TV Channels on PC and MobileUzbek concerns delay THEOS launch, reportCanada’s next microsat to be dual-purposeThings to Know Before Installing Your Own Satellite TV SystemChina launches new reconnaissance satelliteChoosing the Right Cable TV Provider For New CustomersCan You Get Local Channels With Satellite TV? Yes You Can!

“I am not suggesting putting them up against the wall like under Josef Vissarionovich [a.k.a. Stalin], but seriously punish either financially or, if the fault is obvious, it could be a disciplinary or even criminal punishment.” – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about criminal charges against officials responsible for Russia’s recent space failures.Other Posts:Soyuz test completed in French GuianaLockheed Martin GPS III team shifts into CDR phaseThales Alenia Space wins contracts for Solar Orbiter instrumentsNASA announces Stennis Space Center contractsTandberg TV’s Board Recommends Ericsson’s OfferNorthrop selected for alternative satellite R&D effortGlobeCast, Setanta Sports Pair Up For Multichannel DealA Few Words on How Satellite TV Works

“The 1760th flight of a Soyuz family launch vehicle (Molnia) was performed on Thursday, 30 September 2010 … Arianespace and its Russian partners report that the governmental spacecraft [Kosmos 2469] was accurately placed on the target orbit for another mission to the International Space Station.”
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“[I]t is obvious that an overcapacity situation already exists in the launch services market. When I hear certain operators say the contrary, what they really want is additional cheap launch services on the market – but this is something they won’t admit out loud. … The system of commercial launch service providers is working very well, offering capacity to cover all of the market needs for prices that are globally affordable – so if the telecommunications operators want to destabilise this system, I think they will face the consequences from the resulting damage.” — Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall

“We resolve problems more quickly than our European partners. For example, when assemblies for the installation of the tower were brought to the construction site, there was no assembly crane. The French needed two months to install one. It is not for the first time that we have encountered such delays, for which European partners are to blame.” — Vladimir Gnezdilov, director general of Mir Company, regarding the delays in the construction of the Soyuz-ST service tower in French Guiana.
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“The last 50 years of space have been fantastic while the next 50 years will be spectacular.” — Prof. U. R. Rao, former chairman of ISRO, delivering his lecture on “Challenges in Space” in the 97th Indian Science Congress.
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“When foreigners observe [Soyuz] launches, they are surprised that we carry out lift-offs at exactly the designated time. In recent years the Americans have only once carried out a shuttle launch at exactly the designated time. This was a surprising event. The whole world was talking about it. They postpone launches up to six times. It is due to the spacecraft’s features. Our system is more reliable.” — Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, according to Interfax.
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