"SpaceX is proud to be the choice of AsiaSat, a pioneer in advancing satellite communications in Asia," said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Technology Officer.

"We are producing the most advanced launch vehicles in the world, and the international launch market has responded--commercial launches now represent over 60 percent of our upcoming missions."

"We are pleased to have SpaceX as our launch partner for the two upcoming missions. We look forward to the timely and successful launches of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, thereby expanding our fleet from four to six satellites in 2014 to provide more high quality and comprehensive satellite services in the Asia-Pacific region," said William Wade, President and Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.

AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2014 from SpaceX's launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. AsiaSat 6 will have 28 high-powered C-band transponders while AsiaSat 8 will have 24 Ku-band transponders and a Ka-band beam.

The high-powered transponders on the satellite will enable the use of small antennas on the ground. The two SS/L 1300 satellites will serve Asia, the Middle East and Australasia.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - The 355-foot-tall Mobile Launcher, or ML, behaved as expected during its move to Launch Pad 39B in November 2011, an analysis of multiple sensors showed. The top of the tower swayed less than an inch each way.

"I would think you would have perceived it," said NASA's Chris Brown, the lead design engineer for the ML.

The tests showed that computer models used in designing the massive structure were correct. The actual results varied less than 5 percent of what was predicted.

"This gives us much higher confidence in the models," Brown said. "We know that our approach is valid."

The computer models for the launch support structures and the models for the Space Launch System rocket the ML will work with will be used together to fine tune both designs.

Engineers had the tower wired with dozens of accelerometers and strain gauges along with wind sensors to record the launcher's movement during its slow ride atop a crawler-transporter from a park site beside the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.

The ML is expected to make the same trip numerous times during its career as the support structure for NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, a huge rocket envisioned to launch astronauts into deep space. The move and testing was planned to show designers whether the structure and crawler would be up to the challenge.

Crawler drivers performed several speed changes during the six-mile journeys to and from the pad. While at the pad, which is being refurbished after decades of hosting space shuttles, workers connected ventilation, fire support and alarm systems and other water lines.

The instruments used in the testing are very precise, accurate enough to record even the most subtle of vibrations and movements.

"We were measuring milli-g's," Brown said.

The readings will also be used for determining how fast the crawler will be allowed to go as it carries the rocket to the launch pad. For instance, there is substantial vibration at 0.8 mph, so engineers want drivers to stay away from that particular speed, but that does not necessarily mean the crawler will be ordered to slow it down.

The ML, designed for the Ares I rocket of the cancelled Constellation program, is due for major modifications in the coming few years as it is strengthened to support the much-heavier SLS. It took two years to build and was completed in August 2010.

A structural design contract is expected to be awarded this year and a construction contractor in 2013. Umbilical arms reaching from the tower to the rocket are scheduled to be installed in 2015.

The ML is the biggest structure of its kind since the Launch Umbilical Towers were constructed to support the Apollo/Saturn V. Those towers saw numerous modifications through their lives as trial-and-error showed where changes were needed, Brown said.

"Our goal here is to have less of those kinds of problems," Brown said.

Computer models were also used when NASA designed the Apollo towers, but those models were much simpler than today's versions simply by virtue of the computing power available now, Brown said.

"We can run in five minutes what would have taken them days to run," Brown said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Tehran (IANS) Feb 08, 2012 - Iran is planning to send a new generation of satellites into orbit to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic republic's establishment, Defence Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has said.

On Friday, Iran announced that it successfully launched an observation satellite into orbit, reported Xinhua.

The spacecraft, named Navid (Herald) and weighing 50 kg, can take pictures at altitudes of about 250 km to 375 km from the earth.

The launch of Navid satellite using Safir satellite carrier was not simply an aerospace operation, but stood for creativity, self-reliance and wisdom of Iran's aerospace engineers, Press TV quoted Vahidi as saying Sunday.

Tehran plans to launch the country's first manned mission into space by 2019, the media report said.

Iran to set up space launch base
Tehran, Feb 4 (IANS) Iran plans to establish a national satellite launch base in the southeast of the country, adjacent to the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, Press TV reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered the cabinet to approve the plan and earmark funding for the project, space agency chief Hamid Fazeli said.

RIA Novosti reported that earlier Friday, Iran successfully launched an observation satellite, Navid (Harbinger), to take pictures of the Earth at low altitudes of 250 to 370 km.

Tehran launched its first domestically-produced satellite Omid (Hope) in 2009, an endeavour which made it the ninth country having the capability to launch satellites.

Iran also plans to launch the country's first manned mission into space by 2019.

Source: Indo-Asia News Service

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Centennial CO (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced the completion of two key milestones leading toward the certification of the Atlas V launch vehicle for human spaceflight.

ULA has successfully completed the third and fourth milestones of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA). In December, ULA conducted a series of detailed reviews that reflected the culmination of efforts involving technical experts and representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

A Tailored System Requirements Review (TSRR) was successfully conducted which summarized months of work with ULA and NASA. The team reviewed the detailed evidence that demonstrates how the existing, flight-proven Atlas V meets the intent of NASA's Human Spaceflight Certification requirements.

The team paid particular emphasis to requirements traceability, verification and certification planning. Because Atlas V is already certified to fly the nation's most complex exploration and national security missions, ULA was able to provide a wealth of detailed system and sub-system analysis, qualification, certification, and flight data resulting from 28 successful missions.

"The TSRR was the result of an extensive effort with NASA and our commercial spacecraft partners during which we cooperatively reviewed the details of Atlas V design, analyses and operations," said George Sowers, ULA's vice president of business development and advanced programs.

"This was the first time that we were able to share detailed Atlas V design and flight data with NASA Human Spaceflight experts."

A Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) Review also was conducted to evaluate safety-critical launch vehicle systems. This included the details of existing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) data, Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) results, explosion modeling analyses, system hazard analyses and fault coverage assessments. The PSA leveraged similar data developed in support of Atlas V launches of critical NASA missions including Pluto New Horizons, Juno and the Mars Science Laboratory.

"The PSA provided a firm foundation to show how the demonstrated reliability of the Atlas V offers significant benefits towards meeting NASA's stringent crew safety requirements," Sowers said.

"We received invaluable insight from the NASA's Commercial Crew Program while allowing us to provide the details behind the reliability and robustness of the Atlas V design."

"ULA gave us an invaluable opportunity to get to know its Atlas V systems and subsystems through our unfunded partnership," said Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango. "And we are happy to share our knowledge and expectations to keeping our crews safe."

"With the recent launch of the Mars Science Laboratory for NASA, Atlas V once again demonstrated the highest confidence, lowest risk solution for human spaceflight," Sowers added.

Three of the four current NASA CCDev partners providing commercial crew integrated services have selected Atlas V as their launch vehicle.

"The flight-proven and NASA-certified Atlas V eliminates all risk of launch vehicle development and early flight failures inherent in new, unproven designs," Sowers said.

As NASA moves forward with the Commercial Crew development Program, ULA will offer human-certified Atlas launch services to meet the needs for the crew transportation system providers.

"The Commercial Crew Development Program is on a path to create a robust commercial crew transportation capability to low-Earth orbit (LEO). ULA looks forward to continued work with our spacecraft customers and NASA to develop an early U.S. crew space transportation capability providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to LEO and the International Space Station," Sowers said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Feb 07, 2012 - Russian space agency Roscosmos and rocket and space-station hardware builder RSC Energia are working to restore commercial viability to the Sea Launch floating platform project, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin said on Thursday.

"We are preparing a business plan together with RSC Energia to make Sea Launch profitable. We need to guarantee from three to four launches (from the platform) a year to reach that goal. We already have contracts for launches for the next two years," Popovkin told Echo Moskvy radio.

The most recent launch was in September 2011 from the platform in the Pacific Ocean.

Sea Launch AG was formed in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, and managed by U.S. Boeing.

It resumed operations last year after a 30-month hiatus that saw passage through U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, change of ownership from Boeing to Energia and a move from California to Switzerland.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Paris (AFP) Feb 3, 2012 - The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday that the first launch of a long-awaited light rocket, Vega, which had been pencilled for February 9, would take place on February 13.

Vega is being deployed at a new pad at ESA's space base at Kourou, French Guiana, to complement ESA's heavyweight Ariane 5 and the Russian-made medium launcher Soyuz.

An ESA spokesman told AFP that the new date was within the launch window and would not interfere with the next big mission from Kourou, the deployment of a supply freighter to the International Space Station (ISS) in March.

Under development since 1998, the 30-metre (100-feet) rocket is designed to hoist payloads of up to 1.5 tonnes to an altitude of 700 kilometres (437 miles).

Italy has shouldered nearly 60 percent of the 710-million-euro (930-million-dollar) cost.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Washington (AFP) Feb 2, 2012 - The first test flight of a commercial spacecraft to the International Space Station could happen in late March, NASA said on Thursday.

The Dragon spacecraft, owned by US company SpaceX, could launch no earlier than March 20 but a more fixed date would follow in the next couple of weeks, NASA spokesman Mike Suffredini told reporters.

The launch, the first-ever bid by a private company to dock at the orbiting lab, had been set for February but was postponed for technical reasons.

SpaceX -- owned by Elon Musk, an Internet entrepreneur and founder of PayPal -- made history with its Dragon launch in December 2010, becoming the first commercial outfit to send a spacecraft into orbit and back.

SpaceX and several other companies are competing to build and operate a private capsule that could tote astronauts and cargo to the ISS, after US space agency NASA retired its space shuttle program last year.

The main goals of SpaceX's next flight include a fly-by of the ISS at a distance of two miles (three kilometers) and a berthing operation in which the Dragon will approach the ISS and the crew aboard the orbiting outpost will use the ISS robotic arm to help it latch on.

After the test docking, the Dragon aims to detach from the station for its return to Earth and eventually splash down in the Pacific off the coast of California.

SpaceX tests capsule engines
Mcgregor, Texas (UPI) Feb 2, 2012 - SpaceX says it has successfully test fired its SuperDraco engine, which will provide its Dragon spacecraft with maneuvering and escape capabilities.

The private spacecraft company has been conducting further tests since it and NASA announced a delay in the Dragon's intended historic docking with the International Space Station, Forbes reported Thursday.

The SuperDraco rocket engine is intended to allow for powerful but pinpoint control for precision flight maneuvers and also provide the ability for astronauts to jettison anytime from a launch rocket in the event of an emergency, the company said.

"SuperDraco engines represent the best of cutting edge technology," Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive and technology officer, said in a statement.

"These engines will power a revolutionary launch escape system that will make Dragon the safest spacecraft in history and enable it to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy."

The engines are also reusable, moving the Dragon a step closer to a completely reusable spacecraft, he said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Jan 31, 2012 - ESA's new Vega rocket is now fully assembled on its launch pad. Final preparations are in full swing for the rocket's inaugural flight from Europe's Spaceport. The launch window opens on 9 February.

The upper composite, comprising LARES, ALMASat-1, seven CubeSats, the payload adapter and the fairing, was moved to the pad late Monday night. A night transfer is the standard practice in Kourou to avoid overheating the payloads.

The move ended early Tuesday morning with its installation on the dedicated stand inside the mobile gantry to await mating with the launcher.

The composite was then added on top of Vega's AVUM fourth stage to finalise electrical connections and verify links, concluding with the final mechanical connection.

The main remaining steps to the maiden flight are the final checkout of the assembled vehicle, the full launch countdown rehearsal and the fuelling of the restartable AVUM.

Vega qualification flight
This first flight, dubbed VV01, marks the end of nine years of development by ESA and its partners, Italian space agency ASI, French space agency CNES and industry.

It will lift off from the new Vega launch site at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying nine satellites into orbit. The launch window opens on 9 February and ends a few days later.

The mission will qualify the overall Vega system, including the vehicle, the ground infrastructure and operations from the launch campaign to the payload separation and disposal of the upper module.

In particular, it will demonstrate the vehicle's performances and payload services in flight.

A flexible mission
Vega will provide Europe with a safe, reliable and competitive capacity to carry science and Earth observation satellites into orbit, while perfectly complementing the heavy Ariane 5 and medium Soyuz rockets already launched from the spaceport.

The rocket is designed to cope with a wide range of missions and payload configurations in order to respond to different market opportunities and provide great flexibility.

Unlike most small launchers, Vega is able to place multiple payloads into orbit. In particular, it offers configurations able to handle payloads ranging from a single satellite up to one main satellite plus six microsatellites.

It is compatible with payload masses ranging from 300 kg to 2500 kg, depending on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customers. The benchmark is for 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude polar orbit.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Moscow (RIA Novosti) Jan 31, 2012 - The launch of a Russian Proton-M carrier rocket with a Dutch telecommunication satellite onboard scheduled for Friday has been postponed indefinitely for technical reasons, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Friday.

This is the second delay in the rocket's launch, which was initially scheduled for December 26, but then postponed for technical reasons.

"Today we are planning to carry out operations to dismount the Proton-M rocket from the launch pad...and transport it to the integration building," a statement on the Roscosmos website said.

"The date and time of the launch will be established after all registered problems are fixed and additional tests are held," the statement read.

The SES-4 satellite to be delivered to the orbit by the Russian rocket will be the largest and most powerful in the group of SES satellites, built by U.S. company Space Systems/Loral for the Dutch operator Ses World Skies.

It is designed to provide various satellite services to customers in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America. Equipped with 52 C-band and 72 Ku-band transponders, the satellite has a life span of 15 years.

Source: RIA Novosti

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:49 AEST Kiev, Ukraine (RIA Novosti) Jan 31, 2012 - Ukraine and Russia will carry out two rocket launches under the joint Dnepr space program, head of the National Space Agency of Ukraine Yuri Alekseyev said on Friday.

Moscow has recently decided to continue the implementation of the joint Russian-Ukrainian program to use decommissioned RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in commercial space launches under the Dnepr program.

"We are planning to carry out two launches [this year]," Alekseyev told reporters in Kiev.

"The first, with a Korean KOMPSAT-5 satellite, is tentatively scheduled for April-May...and probably in September or October we will have a launch with a large number of Arab satellites," he said.

Alekseyev said the price of the launches would be the subject of negotiations with the Russian Defense Ministry.

"We want to lower the price, they want to make it higher, and that's natural because it's a market economy," he said.

The RS-20, classified by NATO as the SS-18 Satan, is the most powerful ICBM in the world. It was first launched in 1973 and is still in service with Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF).

RS-20 missiles are being gradually removed from the Russian arsenal and converted into Dnepr launch vehicles.

Alekseyev said Ukrainian experts continue to take part in the maintenance of the remaining 52 Satan missiles in service with Russia's SMF.

Source: RIA Novosti

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