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The 1,727th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle, Moiniya, occurred last Tuesday, October 23rd, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The lift-off occurred at 8:30 a.m., Moscow time. Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners all report the government’s spacecraft was accurately placed in target orbit.
Read MoreThe Russian State Commission investigating the unsuccessful launch last month of a Proton vehicle carrying the JCSAT-11 satellite has determined that a damaged pyro firing cable on the interstage truss prevented the activation of the pyro bolts that were to have separated the first and second stages of the rocket. Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) and chairman of the 18-member investigative commission, announced the findings after meeting with government officials in Kazakhstan.
Read MoreLaunch service contracts for two future NASA space exploration missions have been landed by United Launch Alliance. The missions will be Landsat and Juno, scheduled to launch in 2011.
Read MoreNASA’s Launch Services Program Office has selected Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services for the Juno mission to Jupiter. This is a $190 million contract award.
Read MoreAs announced by the Russian government last week, Anatoly Perminov, director of Roscosmos, will lead the Russian State Commission through the investigation into the recent Proton mission anomaly during the JCSat-11 launch. The commission, usually comprising about one dozen members, is formed this time by 18 top Russian space and other industry professionals.
Read MoreSatellite operator Avanti Communications has signed a contract to purchase launch services for its first satellite, HYLAS (highly adaptable satellite), from Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), USA. A launch window for the satellite to launch between March and December 2009 has been booked.
Read MoreThe President and CEO of JSAT Corporation, Kiyoshi Isozaki, reported the failure of the attempted launch of its JCSAT-11 communications satellite and an in-depth investigation Is underway to determine the cause. He added, “This satellite was launched as a successor to an in-orbit backup satellite.
Read MoreILS Declares Proton Launch Anomaly Khrunichev and International Launch Services regret to announce the failure of the Proton launch vehicle to put the JCSAT-11 satellite into proper orbit for JSAT Corporation. The Proton Breeze M rocket lifted off at 4:43 a.m. today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Read MoreRocket segments for the Zenit-3SL system arrived last week at Home Port, as Sea Launch transitions to mission operations. The hardware will support the launch of the Thuraya 3 satellite in October, as well as additional upcoming missions into 2008.
Read MoreThe last time a Zenit-3SL booster attempted to launch a satellite, the result was not of a positive nature—there was an explosion and the Dutch communications satellite became as dust. However, the old motto of try and try again certainly applies to Thuraya, a United Arab Emirates company.
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