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[Via Satellite 12-24-13] On Friday Dec. 20, 2013, Bolivia launched its first telecommunications satellite, designated Tupak Katari. The launch took place at 16:42 UTC onboard a Long March 3B rocket from China’s Xichang satellite launch center. Bolivian president Evo Morales traveled to China to watch the launch, making him the first foreign head of state...

[Via Satellite 12-24-13] NASA‘s Launch Services Program has chosen United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) Atlas 5 vehicle to launch the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which will place a geophysical lander on the surface of Mars. The InSight mission is scheduled to launch in 2016 from Space Launch Complex 3E...

[Via Satellite 12-23-13] On Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 at 6:12 a.m., local time in French Guiana, Arianespace successfully launched the ESA’s Gaia spacecraft using a Soyuz launch vehicle. Over its 5-year lifetime, Gaia is expected to produce an astronomical catalog of a billion stars, with extremely precise information on stellar distances, positions, and movements along with...

[Via Satellite 12-16-13] Astrium and Arianespace have signed a contract worth more than $2.75 billion for the supply of 18 additional Ariane 5 ECA launchers. The contract follows on from the framework agreement signed with Arianespace on Sept. 17, 2013, which enabled Astrium and its industrial partners to begin work on manufacturing the additional launchers....

[Via Satellite 12-16-13] Arianespace and Visiona Tecnologia Espacial have signed a launch contract for the next Brazilian government satellite, the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC). The satellite will be launched in 2016 using an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. Visiona Tecnologia Espacial is a joint venture...

[Via Satellite 12-13-13] The entire satellite industry hinges on the ability to access space. The impact of SpaceX’s successful launch of SES’ SES 8 satellite on the satellite industry has been viscerally felt throughout all its subsectors. Those most shaken are other launch providers, who must continue to secure launches at competitive prices in order...

[Via Satellite 12-11-13] Astrium has finalized its preparation of Gaia in Kourou, French Guiana. The telescope, which will be Europe’s most advanced space observatory, is scheduled for launch on Dec. 19 aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. Gaia will be located at Lagrange point L2, a position of gravitational balance 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Built for...

[Via Satellite 12-10-13] Arianespace is starting the construction of a New Filling Hall (known by its French acronym NBR, for Nouveau Bâtiment de Remplissage) following the approval of its board of directors on Nov. 6 2013, and the approval received Dec. 6 2013 from French space agency CNES, the Guiana Space Center (CSG) landowner. The...

[Via Satellite 12-09-13] ILS successfully launched the first of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress satellites, Inmarsat 5, which has already sent signals from orbit. The spacecraft was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 8 at 7:12 a.m. EST. This was ILS’ seventh launch of 2013, Boeing’s 16th-manufactured satellite...

[Via Satellite 12-09-13] Space Systems/Loral’s (SSL) ABS 2 satellite, designed and built for ABS, has arrived at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, for launch onboard an Ariane 5 during the first quarter of 2014. ABS 2 is a multi-mission C-, Ku- and Ka-band satellite, designed to provide multiple services including direct-to-home (DTH) and...