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[Satellite TODAY 03-01-13] SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket passed an important test on Friday, when it successfully carried the company’s unmanned Dragon capsule into orbit. But an anomaly on the capsule’s maneuvering thrusters was detected nine minutes into the flight – only one of four sets of thrusters were working, SpaceX Founder, CEO and CTO Elon...

[Satellite TODAY 02-22-13] The Vietnamese Government has approved a plan to launch its first remote sensing satellite VNREDSat-1A on Arianespace’s Vega rocket from the European Guiana Space Center in South America, Vietnamese Deputy Director of Institute of Space Technology Bui Trong Tuyen confirmed Feb. 22.     “The VNREDSat-1A satellite will deliver Earth observation, monitoring and...

[Satellite TODAY 02-08-13] Just 24 hours after it successfully launched and orbited six new satellites for Globalstar on its Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Arianespace successfully carried out its 54th Ariane 5 launch in a row, orbiting the Amazonas-3 for Spanish operator Hispasat and Azerspace/Africasat-1a for the Azerbaijani operator Azercosmos.    Arianespace’s...

Arianespace and its Russian Starsem affiliate have successfully launched and orbited six new satellites for Globalstar on its Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

[Satellite TODAY 02-01-13] Sea Launch failed to loft an Intelsat satellite into orbit early Friday morning after its Zenit 3SL rocket and Ukrainian-built booster experienced an anomaly approximately 40 seconds after liftoff from the launcher’s Odyssey platform stationed south of Hawaii. The three-stage rocket carrying the Intelsat 27 satellite appeared to head off course before...

[Satellite TODAY 01-30-13] SpaceX and Spacecom have reached an agreement to launch Spacecom’s Amos-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Falcon 9 will insert the communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).             The Amos-6 mission is targeting a 2015 launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Amos-6 agreement, announced Jan. 29, continues a...

Azerspace/Africasat-1 Image credit: Orbital [Satellite TODAY 01-23-13] Azerbaijan’s first telecommunications satellite, Azerspace/Africasat-1, is undergoing pre-start test in French Guiana. Arianespace has stated that the satellite is already in the preparatory site where it will be fueled.     Azerspace/Africasat-1 will be launched into geostationary orbit by carrier rocket Ariane 5ECA on Feb. 7. The temporary position...

[Satellite TODAY 01-11-13] Commercial launch service provider Arianespace had an exceptionally busy year in 2012 with 10 successful launches, but will attempt to top that performance in 2013, utilizing its expanded portfolio of Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets to fulfill a robust 12-mission schedule by the end of the year.    The European launcher’s...

[Satellite TODAY 01-04-13] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has once again delayed the joint launch of Indian-French satellite SARAL and several Canadian defense satellites. According to ISRO’s Jan. 4 announcement, the previously planned Jan. 12 launch date was moved to mid-February, due to a thermo-vacuum testing an issue that arose with the SARAL satellite,...

[Satellite TODAY 01-04-13] Arianespace and Astrium have signed a launch contract for the VNREDSat-1A Earth observation satellite, on behalf of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, the companies announced Jan. 4.    Arianespace will launch VNREDSat-1A in the second quarter of 2013 on the company’s second Vega launcher, Verta 1, from the Guiana Space...