ESA VV04 Vega Rocket Launches IXV Spacecraft

Replay of the liftoff of Vega VV04 with ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, launched from Kourou, French Guiana on 11 February 2015.

IXV was launched 340 km into space atop a Vega rocket, VV04, from Kourou in French Guiana on 11 February 2015.

After separation from Vega, IXV coasted to 412 km before beginning a punishing glide back through the atmosphere.

During its autonomous flight, IXV tested the latest technologies and critical systems to extend Europe’s capability for space exploration.

Russian Proton-M launch carrying the Inmarsat-5 F-2 satellite

International Launch Services (ILS) opened their 2015 campaign with the launch of the Russian Proton-M launch vehicle, this time carrying the Inmarsat-5 F-2 communications satellite, part of the Inmarsat Global Xpress (GX) system, on a multi-hour flight to its transfer orbit. Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was on schedule at 12:31 GMT.

Credit: NASA

The Proton booster that launched the Inmarsat-5 F-2 satellite is 4.1 m (13.5 ft) in diameter along its second and third stages, with a first stage diameter of 7.4 m (24.3 ft). Overall height of the three stages of the Proton booster is 42.3 m (138.8 ft).

The Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems built Inmarsat-5 F2 communications satellite, based on the BSS-702HP Platform.

Credit: Boeing

The Proton vehicle has a heritage of over 400 launches since 1965 and is built by Khrunichev Research and State Production Center, one of the pillars of the global space industry and the majority owner of ILS.

Z7The first stage consists of a central tank containing the oxidizer surrounded by six outboard fuel tanks.

Each fuel tank also carries one of the six RD-276 engines that provide first stage power. Total first stage vacuum-rated level thrust is 11.0 MN (2,500,000 lbf).

Of a conventional cylindrical design, the second stage is powered by three RD-0210 engines plus one RD-0211 engine and develops a vacuum thrust of 2.4 MN (540,000 lbf).

Powered by one RD-0213 engine, the third stage develops thrust of 583 kN (131,000 lbf), and a four-nozzle vernier engine that produces thrust of 31 kN (7,000 lbf).

2015-02-01 11_15_09-www.ilslaunch.com_sites_default_files_I5F2MO.pdf Guidance, navigation, and control of the Proton M during operation of the first three stages is carried out by a triple redundant closed-loop digital avionics system mounted in the Proton’s third stage.

The mission is utilising a 5-burn Breeze M Supersynchronous Transfer Orbit mission design, with the first three stages of the Proton using a standard ascent profile to place the orbital unit into a sub-orbital trajectory.

From this point in the mission, the Breeze M will per-form planned mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a supersynchronous transfer orbit.

Separation of the Inmarsat-5 F2 satellite is scheduled to occur approximately 15 hours, 31 minutes after liftoff.

NASA Delta II Launch of SMAP

The Delta II rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), satellite on a mission to measure and map the Earth's soil moisture distribution and freeze/thaw state with unprecedented accuracy. Liftoff was at 6:22 a.m. PST (9:22 a.m. EST).

The unfolded solar arrays to power SMAP and the golden feedhorn for its radar and radiometer are visible in this image taken during assembly and testing.

Credit: NASA, JPL.

In orbit graphic of SMAP satellite prior to third stage burn for orbit insertion and booster decoupling.

Credit: NASA,

SpaceX Falcon 6 Rocket Launch: Orbit Insertion success but loss of launcher

Dragon cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station. 

A Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force tion.

The rocket lifted off at 4:47 a.m. EST (0947 GMT), streaking through nighttime skies as it headed into orbit.

Nine minutes later, the rocket’s upper-stage engine shut down and deposited Dragon into its preliminary orbit.

The capsule was due to reach the space station, which circles about 260 miles above the planet, on Monday.

As Dragon began its solo journey, the discarded first-stage booster was attempting to land itself vertically on a platform in the ocean, part of an ongoing series of tests to develop reusable rockets.

"Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter.

The rocket was aiming for a 300- by 100-ft platform stationed about 200 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ground control teams reported two engine restarts as the rocket descended back through the atmosphere before the communications link was lost.

The rocket was expected to make one more engine burn and extend four landing legs prior to touchdown.

SpaceX engineers stationed on a nearby support ship tried to catch the descent and landing on video, but it was "pitch dark and foggy," Musk said. "Didn't get good landing/impact video ... Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces."

The ship itself is fine, he added, though some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced, Musk added.

He previously had pegged the chance of a successful touchdown on the first try at 50 per cent.

"Returning anything from space is a challenge, but returning a Falcon 9 first stage for a precision landing presents a number of additional hurdles," SpaceX said in a blog post about the test.

"At 14 stories tall and traveling upwards of 1300 m/s (meters per second), stabilizing the Falcon 9 first stage for re-entry is like trying to balance a rubber broomstick on your hand in the middle of a wind storm."

SpaceX Launch. Credit: M. Staples

To help stabilise the stage and to reduce its speed, SpaceX relights the engines for a series of three burns.

The first burn, the boostback burn, adjusts the impact point of the vehicle and is followed by the supersonic retro propulsion burn that, along with the drag of the atmosphere, slows the vehicle's speed from 1300 m/s to about 250 m/s.

"The final burn is the landing burn, during which the legs deploy and the vehicle's speed is further reduced to around 2 m/s.

“The legspan of the Falcon 9 first stage is about 70 ft and while the ship is equipped with powerful thrusters to help it stay in place, it is not actually anchored, so finding the bullseye becomes particularly tricky,” SpaceX said.

“During previous attempts, we could only expect a landing accuracy of within 10 km. For this attempt, we’re targeting a landing accuracy of within 10 meters,” SpaceX said.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket grid fins. Credit: SpaceX

Musk said dark and foggy conditions prevented cameras aboard the rocket and the landing barge from recording good video of the impact, but there is plenty of other data to help determine what happened.

SpaceX engineers revealed that a loss of power in the grid fins caused a loss of control of the launcher, resulting in it being damaged on impact.

Musk tweeted the grid fins added to the rocket launched Saturday “worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing.”

An upcoming flight will carry 50 percent more hydraulic fluid, Musk said. The mission “should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month.”

JAXA Hayabusa 2 probe lifts of for Asteroid 1999 JU3

The rocket carrying Hayabusa 2, Japan's latest asteroid probe, blasts off from the south-western Japanese island of Tanegashima. 

Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

The JAXA Hayabusa 2 probe aims to touch down on rock called 1999 JU3, blast hole in it and analyse debris for clues to origins of life

A Japanese space probe named Hayabusa 2 blasted off on Wednesday, setting off on a six-year round trip to a land on an asteroid, blow a hole in it and collect samples that scientists hope will help reveal the origins of life.

The launch of the probe, postponed twice because of bad weather, comes less than a month after a European Space Agency probe landed on a comet in a pioneering mission, only to have the lander run out of power due to lack of sunlight on its solar panels.

Hayabusa means peregrine falcon in Japanese.

The probe will map the surface of the asteroid before touching down, deploying small explosives to blast a crater and then collect resulting debris.

Asteroids are believed to have formed at the dawn of the solar system and the probe’s target is one called 1999 JU3, which scientists believe contains organic matter that may have contributed to life on Earth.

The probe is expected to arrive at the asteroid in mid-2018 and return with samples in 2020, the year Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.

The mission should help Japan’s space programme put a troubled past well behind it.

The first Hayabusa probe was unable to collect as much material as hoped but still made history by being the first vessel to bring back samples from an asteroid.

Its seven-year mission ended in 2010 when it blazed a trail over Australian before slamming into the desert.

Both probes were developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The first Hayabusa probe was launched on the domestically developed H-2A rocket, as was Hayabusa 2.

In 2003 an H-2A rocket carrying two spy satellites veered off course and had to be destroyed.

The Hayabusa 2 launch was first scheduled for 30 November but delayed twice by bad weather. The last chance for a successful launch before 2016 would have been 7 December.

The European Space Agency’s Philae probe finished a 57-hour mission on the surface of a comet on 15 November, losing battery power due to a poor landing in a spot shielded from the sun it needed to charge the battery for an extended mission.

ESA IXV Spaceplane set for February launch

Arianespace has put the launch of its IXV spaceplane back on the schedule, announcing a February 2015 date for the flight.

The launch was recently postponed, but the organisation now says it's agreed with French space agency CNES that the Intermedia eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), will ascend to space on February 11 2015.

The IXV was delivered to the French Guiana spaceport in September, but hopes for a November 2014 launch were dashed in October when the European Space Agency (ESA) announced it would be postponed.

At that time, the ESA said it needed more time to analyse the flight trajectory of the Vega launcher that will hoist the space plane, because instead of the usual polar trajectory the launcher uses, the IXV test will head eastwards.

Since an easterly launch is “unprecedented” for Vega, the ESA said it wanted to generate more information on the performance of the launch vehicle, “should an anomaly occur after liftoff”.

Vega will carry the IXV to 320 km, after which it will rise under its own power to 420 km.

It will reach a speed of 7.5 km/second before re-entry, which the agency says is “fully representative of any mission from low orbit”.

The ultimate aim for the two-tonne IXV is to develop the technologies needed to launch cargoes to targets like the ISS in a reusable autonomous craft. Lift is generated not by wings but by the body design, with a couple of flaps controlling its flight.

The IXV will land in the Pacific Ocean, but the ESA ultimately wants to develop a craft that can land on conventional runways

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti: Soyuz TMA-15M Launch

Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft launch.

Credit: ROCOSMOS

The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 23 November 2014 with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and her crewmates to the weightless research centre where they will live and work for five months.

Credit: ROCOSMOS

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is all set for her five-month mission on the International Space Station. 

She will leave Earth on Sunday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.

Watch the international crew of astronauts board their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft strapped to 274 tonnes of rocket propellants, accelerate to 28 800 km/h and dock with the Space Station orbiting Earth in just six hours.

The programme will include images of Expedition 42/43 suiting up, walking to their spacecraft and a last wave as they board.

The hatch opening will include commentary by ESA’s Space Station Programme Manager Bernado Patti and ESA’s Head of the Astronaut Corps and former astronaut Frank De Winne.

Docking with the Space Station will happen early Monday morning at around 02:53 with coverage returning at 02:30.

Boeing Stacks Two Satellites to Launch all-electric propulsion satellites as a Pair

Boeing has successfully mated two 702SP (small platform) satellites in a stacked configuration in preparation for the first-ever conjoined satellite launch. 

The milestone is a significant step towards the early 2015 launch of the satellites ABS-3A and Eutelsat 115 West B, the first-ever all-electric propulsion satellites scheduled to enter service.

The 702SP, designed by Boeing Network & Space Systems satellite businesses and Phantom Works, features an all-electric propulsion system and a joint configuration for a dual-manifest launch. 

By eliminating chemical propulsion and using only electric propulsion, the 702SP platform offers a significant mass advantage that translates to increased revenue-generating payload performance and launch vehicle savings to customers.

Photo credit: Boeing

ISRO GSLV III Unmanned crew module - Launch in December 2014

India will launch an unmanned crew module in December onboard a heavy rocket to test its re-entry into the atmosphere for the country's future maiden human space flight, the space agency chief said Thursday.

"We will send an unmanned crew module on the experimental GSLV-Mark III rocket in December and test its re-entry into the earth's atmosphere for a human space flight plan in future," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here on the margins of an engineers conclave.

Weighing 3.6 tonnes, the crew module will be put into space orbit 100-120 km away in a satellite and brought back to earth for checking its re-entry characteristics when carrying two Indian astronauts in the proposed human space flight.

"Though the actual human space flight will be in an orbit around earth at a height of 270 km for a week, the experimental flight with the crew module in a spacecraft will go up to 100-120 km above earth to test its heat shield survive very high temperatures (about 1, 500 degrees Celsius) during the re-entry into the atmosphere," Radhakrishnan noted.

The crew module will have a parachute that will open up after re-entry into the atmosphere and fall into sea for retrieval.

"The parachute will open up for soft landing of the spacecraft carrying the crew module in the Bay of Bengal, about 450 km away from Andamans (islands), and will be retrieved by a boat," Radhakrishnan said.

The previous UPA government had sanctioned Rs.145 crore to ISRO for developing a crew module that will fly two Indian astronauts into space, space suits, life support systems and related technologies for the human space flight programme.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV) heavy rocket will, however, have a passive cryogenic stage - liquid nitrogen at super cooled temperature and gaseous nitrogen instead of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The space agency is integrating the rocket with the crew module at its Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, about 90 km northeast of Chennai.

UAE launches project to send unmanned probe to Mars

Oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Monday launched a project that aims to send the first Arab unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.

The Gulf state set up the UAE Space Agency to supervise and finance the "Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) to execute and manage all stages of the Mars probe project," a statement said.

The two entities signed a seven-year partnership agreement Monday, setting the timing as well as legal and financial frameworks for the Mars project, said the statement.

In July the UAE government revealed a plan to create a space agency to drive the project.

It said at the time that UAE investments in space technologies have already topped 20 billion dirhams ($5.44 billion).

The UAE, a seven-emirate federation formed in 1971, will become the ninth country in the world with space programmes to explore the Red Planet, according to the statement.

On Oct 20th his Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday attended the signing of an agreement to build the first Arab Islamic probe to reach Mars.

The agreement emphasises the importance of building a national base of research, developing specialised national cadres during the coming years, and the commitment of international partners in conveying all necessary knowledge to the national work team which will, in turn, contribute to building a solid scientific base for developing the UAE space sector.

“We started today a seven-year journey with a national team; through it we will cross hundreds of millions of miles to build globally competitive Emirati individuals. We say to the people of our region join us in building a new history for our Arab nation,” Shaikh Mohammad said on his social media account.

Upon completion, the probe is expected to reach Mars in nine months, an achievement which will make the UAE one of nine nations around the world with a Mars exploration space programme.

The probe’s estimated time of arrival on Mars, the year 2021, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the UAE.

Space is considered a key factor for economic security, used for satellite communications, broadcasting, meteorology and observing natural disasters.

The UAE’s current national investments in technology-related projects and industry is more than Dh20 billion, which includes Yahsat satellite communications company and Thuraya telecommunications company.

The UAE Space Agency was earlier set up by Shaikh Mohammad for supervising and organising all space activities, developing the sector, ensuring knowledge transfer, enhancing the UAE’s position as a global player in aerospace, and maximising the contribution of space industries to the national economy. The agency will report to the Cabinet and enjoy financial and administrative independence.

The UAE’s purpose is to build Emirati technical and intellectual capabilities in the fields of aerospace and space exploration and to enter the space industry and to make use of space technology in a way that enhances the country’s development plans.

ISRO Launch India's Third Navigation Satellite IRNSS 1C

The IRNSS constellation with the daily lemniscate projection of the 4 GSO spacecraft onto Earth 

Credit: ISRO

India's third navigation satellite IRNSS 1C was launched on October 16 from Sriharikota spaceport in coastal Andhra Pradesh, space agency ISRO announced.

"Congrats to the scientists at ISRO for the successful launch of navigation satellite IRNSS 1C. It is a matter of immense pride and joy," the Prime Minister said in a statement.

"The 1,425kg navigation satellite (IRNSS-1C) launched October 16 at 1.32am IST onboard a polar rocket (PSLV-C26) from Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota," said an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) statement. Sriharikota is about 100km northeast of Chennai.

The satellite, which was scheduled for launch Oct 10 but the launch put off by a week due to a glitch in the telemetry system, is part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) that will have a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate positioning service for terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation in 1,500 km area in the Indian peninsula.

The second navigation satellite (IRNSS-1B) was launched April 4 this year from the spaceport.

The Indian system will be similar to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Glonass and Europe's Galileo constellation of navigation satellites.

ESA Ariane 5 Launch and Orbital insertion of Intelsat 30 and ARSAT-1

On 16 October 2014, Ariane 5 flight VA220 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana to place two telecommunications satellites, Intelsat-30/DLA-1 and Arsat-1, into their planned transfer orbits. 

Credit: ESA

An Ariane 5 has lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites, Intelsat-30/DLA-1 and Arsat-1, into their planned orbits.

Launch of flight VA220 occurred on 16 October at 21:44 GMT (23:44 CEST, 18:44 local time).

Intelsat-30/DLA-1, with a mass of about 6320 kg and mounted with its launch vehicle adapter on top of Ariane's Sylda dual-payload carrying structure, was the first to be released 28 minutes into the mission.


On 16 October 2014, Ariane 5 flight VA220 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites, Intelsat-30/DLA-1 and Arsat-1, into their planned orbits. 

Credit: ESA/Arianespace

Following a series of burns controlled by Ariane's computer, the Sylda structure encasing Arsat-1 was then jettisoned. Arsat-1, with a mass of 2973 kg, was released into its own transfer orbit about six minutes after the first satellite.

Intelsat-30/DLA-1, owned and operated by Intelsat, will be positioned at 95°W longitude in geostationary orbit to provide telecommunications and direct-to-home broadcast services to Latin America. The satellite has a design life of about 15 years.

Arsat-1, owned by Arsat in Argentina, will be positioned at 71.8°W in geostationary orbit to provide direct-to-home television, Internet access services, data transmission and IP telephony to Argentina and neighbouring countries. It has a design life of 15 years.

The payload mass for this launch was 10 083 kg. The satellites totalled 9293 kg, with payload adapters and carrying structures making up the rest.

Flight VA220 was the 76th Ariane 5 mission.

Argentina launches its first home-built satellite, ARSAT-1

In this photo provided by Service Optique CSG, the Ariane 5 lifts-off carrying the Argentine made ARSAT-1 geostationary communications satellite, from Kourou, French Guiana, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. 

According the Argentine authorities the satellite will offer Internet, cell phone and television signals for the next 15 years for Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. 

Credit: AP Photo/Service Optique CSG

Argentina launched its first domestically built communications satellite Thursday.

The ARSAT-1 satellite is the first to be constructed with local technology in Latin America.

It was built by INVAP, a crew of about 500 scientists over seven years at a cost of $250 million.

The satellite was launched from a base in French Guiana and is to orbit 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth.

"ARSAT-1 is on its way to space. What a thrill," President Cristina Fernandez said shortly after the launch via her Twitter account.

ARSAT-1 is designed to provide digital television and cellphone services to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for the next 15 years.

It's also expected to improve telephone and Internet connections in remote places, including for scientists working in the Antarctic region.

Fernandez has said that through ARSAT-1, Argentina joins an elite group that is able to build these types of satellites.

Other nations with this capability include European Union states, the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel and Japan.

Hurricane Gonzalo Threat Delays Antares Rocket Launch for NASA

Hurricane Gonzalo has pushed the next private cargo mission to the International Space Station back by at least three days.

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft was scheduled to blast off on an unmanned supply run to the orbiting lab from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Oct. 24.

But that liftoff has been delayed until at least Oct. 27 because Gonzalo is about to hit Bermuda, where key tracking equipment for Cygnus spacecraft' Antares rocket is located.

"Once the hurricane has passed Bermuda, a team from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Range will return to the tracking site to assess the situation and begin the process of re-enabling the site's functionality to support the launch," Orbital Sciences representatives wrote in a mission update Wednesday (Oct. 15).

"Depending on the impact of the storm on Bermuda's essential infrastructure systems such as transportation, power and communications, the launch date could be moved later" than Oct. 27, they added.

Whenever it takes place, the Cygnus/Antares launch will kick off Virginia-based Orbital Sciences' third robotic cargo mission to the space station for NASA.

The company signed a $1.9 billion deal with the agency to complete eight such flights.



California-based SpaceX also makes unmanned supply runs to the orbiting lab for NASA using its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX's $1.6 billion contract calls for the firm to fly 12 missions; it has completed three of them to date and is in the middle of the fourth.

Gonzalo took shape as a tropical storm on Sunday (Oct. 12) and intensified into a hurricane on Tuesday (Oct. 14). By Wednesday, Gonzalo rated as a Category 4 hurricane, meaning it boasted maximum sustained winds between 130 and 156 mph (209 to 251 km/h).

Venezuela launch third satellite

Venezuela's second satellite, a remote sensing satellite, was also delivered into space from oppressive China in 2012 and named after the independence hero Francisco de Miranda.

Venezuela signed Sunday an agreement with the oppressive Chinese state-owned company to build and deliver into orbit the country's third satellite with the help of Chinese technology.

The satellite will be named after the independence hero Antonio Jose de Sucre, although both sides didn't offer details of its cost and specific timeframe for the project.

The agreement, which was inked at the presence of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was signed between the Venezuelan government and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), China's sole commercial satellite launch service provider.

"I want to celebrate the agreement to build and launch our third satellite in cooperation with China. Now we'll be more technologically independent with this new tool," said Maduro at the signing ceremony.

In addition, China will expand satellite technology transfer to Venezuela, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during his visit to Venezuela in July this year.

Venezuela's first satellite, a telecom satellite, was launched from China in 2008 and named after independence leader Simon Bolivar.

Venezuela's second satellite, a remote sensing satellite, was also delivered into space from China in 2012 and named after the independence hero Francisco de Miranda.

The second satellite is mainly used for the country's land resource inspections, environmental protection, disaster detection and management, crop yield estimation and city planning.

Iran to Launch 3 New Satellites with More Powerful Launchers

In this undated photo provided by the Iranian Defense Ministry on Friday, June 17, 2011, technicians work on a locally manufactured satellite called Rasad. 

Image courtesy Iranian Defense Ministry.

Iran is preparing to launch three new locally made satellites to the orbit, Fars News Agency reported citing the Deputy Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli.

Tehran is preparing to orbit three new home-made satellites, called Zafar (Triumph), Tolou (Sunrise) and Pars, from more powerful launchers and on the back of bigger carriers in the near future, an official announced on Saturday. 

Credit: Fars News Agency

Deputy Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli made the announcement on the sidelines of a ceremony at the start of the World Space Week in Tehran today.

"Launching the under-construction satellites, including Sharifsat and Nahid, are also among the short-term plans of the ISA," he added.

Also, Iranian Vice-President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Shariatmadari told reporters in the same ceremony that Iran hopes that its Sharifsat satellite would be sent into orbit this year.

Fazeli had announced in May that Iran plans to launch three home-made monitoring satellites into orbit in the next Iranian calendar year (March 2015-March 2016).

"Zafar, Tolou and AUT Sat will be sent into space onboard the Simorq satellite carrier," he said.

Fazeli noted that the satellites would transmit images of the Earth's surface to ground stations.

Zafar will be sent into a geostationary orbit, which is a circular orbit around 36,000 kilometers (22,320 miles) above the Earth's equator.

The satellite will reportedly have a lifespan of one year and six months, and will capture images and transmit them to stations on earth.

Tolou satellite will also carry out remote sensing and topography missions, and will travel in an orbit of 500 kilometers above from the Earth’s equator.

Moreover, AUT Sat, developed by Iranian scientists at Amir Kabir University of Technology, is a monitoring and telecommunications satellite, which weighs 100 kilograms. It is expected to have a lifespan of two years.

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Launching to Space Station 2015

Artist's concept of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station in 2015.

Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

A privately built inflatable room for astronauts on the International Space Station is on track to launch into orbit next year.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is expected to head to space inside SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft in 2015, according to a senior representative for the company Bigelow Aerospace, which is building the module.

Once BEAM gets to the space station, the robotic Canadarm2 will install it on the Tranquility node's aft port to test out expandable-habitat technology.

NASA is paying Nevada-based Bigelow $17.8 million to send the demonstration module to the station, where it will be in place for at least a couple of years.

Here at the International Astronautical Congress Thursday (Oct. 2), Bigelow representative Mike Gold said BEAM provides an example of what the company, and private firms in general, can do in low-Earth orbit (LEO).

"LEO will become a commercial domain," said Gold, Bigelow's director of D.C. operations and business growth.

"Maybe it's difficult to see at this point, but we go back to telecom, there was a time when every communications satellite was owned by the government," he added, noting that today, private companies are now responsible for this space domain and that it touches every aspect of people's lives, such as cellphones. "This will happen when it comes to crew operations."



The BEAM mission will allow Bigelow to collect even more data about how its expandable habitat modules perform on orbit.

The company blasted two other modules to orbit as stand-alone missions in 2006 and 2007 and plans to launch a private space station someday.

Private work in space, Gold noted, is hampered by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which restrict the sharing of technology with other countries, particularly China.

Citing "Star Trek," Gold joked that Scottish engineer Montgomery Scott would have had trouble speaking openly with Hikaru Sulu (from Japan) if ITAR were in force on the Enterprise.

After gravity, Gold said, ITAR is the second-greatest barrier to getting something off Earth. China, in particular, is the "third rail" of ITAR, Gold said, urging other companies to help him speak to government officials in an attempt to make changes.

"We cannot fight the New Space vs. Old Space battle … with so few companies," he said. "The pie is too small. We need to come together as space enthusiasts."

Russia Launches Proton-M with Military Satellite payload

Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Proton-M rocket carrying a satellite into orbit in the first such launch since one of the rockets fell back to Earth soon after liftoff in May.

The Proton-M rocket lifted off on schedule from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 am Moscow time (2023 GMT Saturday), carrying a Russian communications satellite, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

"At 09:26 Moscow time (0526 GMT), the satellite separated from the Briz-M upper-stage rocket and reached the set orbit," Roscosmos said.

Russia had suspended launches of Proton-M rockets after one carrying one of the country's most advanced communications satellites failed less than 10 minutes after liftoff on May 16 and burnt up in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

The Proton is the workhorse of Russia's space industry, earning tens of millions of dollars a year by launching Western and Asian satellites.

The upgraded M version of the Proton has experienced a string of problems that have threatened Russia's reputation as a reliable and cost-effective alternative to US and European rockets.

This image describes the trajectory of the Luch-M data relay network, a previous Proton launch mission.

Credit: RussianSpaceWeb

Sunday’s payload is a Russian Aerospace Defence Forces' geostationary satellite known as Olimp-K (Luch).

According to a Komersant report, the satellite will serve a dual role: One being electronic intelligence (SIGINT) and the other is providing secure communications for governmental use.

The Luch designation has historically been used for satellites with a data relay role. Therefore, the Olimp-K designation might relate to the ELINT payload while the Luch designation relates to the data relay payload.

The Proton-M was previously grounded in July 2013 when it crashed back to Earth with three Russian-made Glonass navigation satellites.

The Proton-M which lifted off Sunday is making use of a Briz-M fourth stage.

The Briz-M consists of a central propulsion unit with a detachable torus-shaped propellant tank mounted around it.

All four of the Proton’s stages burn unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel, oxidised by dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4).

This propellant combination is hypergolic, meaning the propellants will spontaneously ignite on contact, however it is also highly toxic which has led to calls for the Proton to be withdrawn from use.

It is expected that the Angara rocket, which is currently undergoing testing, will eventually replace Proton.

PiKon: UK University launches first telescope made by 3D printing

The University of Sheffield has released the very first photos of space ever taken with PiKon, a telescope that has been made using a 3D printer.

The telescope in question costs just £100 to make and is constructed from parts readily available on the internet.

The entrepreneurs responsible, Institute of Physics member, Mark Wrigley, and University of Sheffield Physics and Astronomy research associate, Andy Kirby, have even made the plans available online so that any budding astronomers can build their own telescope, saving a minimum of £800 compared to models of the same capabilities.

The ground-breaking product, which is based on Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope design, is called PiKon; a portmanteau made from combining the alternative spelling of 'icon', which is Greek for 'image', and the name of the readily available Raspberry Pi camera, which sits in the telescope.

The product works by using a Newtonian concave mirror to form an image of whatever the telescope is focussed on directly onto the Pi camera sensor, which is mounted onto components created by 3D printing.

Because of the small size of the Raspberry Pi camera, it is possible to mount it directly in front of the mirror.

The PiKon telescope has a magnification of times 160, which means that on a cloudless night it will be capable of detailed lunar observation as well as galaxies, star clusters and some planetary observation.

Subsequent processing of the PiKon's digital images also makes it possible to use the telescope to 'stack' and compare images, therefore scanning the night skies for unusual occurrences, such as comets.

The physicists have unveiled the ambitious project, called Disruptive Technology Astronomy, as part of the University of Sheffield's Festival of the Mind (18-28 September 2014), which has been designed to make academic research accessible to the public, teaming leading academics with famous artists and creatives.

SpaceX Falcon-9 Launch Postponed: Stormy weather delays launch

Stormy weather has forced SpaceX to delay its latest supply run to the International Space Station.

The California company called off its early Saturday liftoff from Cape Canaveral, with a half-hour remaining in the countdown.

Officials said they will try again Sunday to launch the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket.

Image of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket on launch pad at Cape Canaveral, NOT launching. 

Credit: NASA

The SpaceX Dragon capsule holds more than 5,000 pounds of space station cargo for NASA, including a 3-D printer.

NASA hopes astronauts will be able to one day fix their spacecraft by cranking out spare parts on the spot.

This will be the fifth station shipment by SpaceX.

It's been an exciting week for SpaceX. On Tuesday, the company won a huge contract to deliver U.S. astronauts to the space station.

Brad Kohlenberg, a business development engineer with Made In Space, displays some of the items that will be made by astronauts using a 3-D printer that will be transported to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. 

NASA is sending a 3-D printer to the International Space Station in hopes that astronauts will be able to one day fix their spacecraft by cranking out spare parts on the spot. 

Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

This undated photo provided by Made In Space shows a 3-D Printer during testing in the ESA Supplied, Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Engineering Unit at Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Credit: AP Photo/Made In Space

This April 2014 photo provided by NASA shows a 3-D printer after it passed flight certification and acceptance testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. 

The technology demonstration will print objects in the  ESA Supplied, Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). 

The ESA MSG Engineering Unit at Marshall is pictured in the background. 

Credit: AP Photo/NASA, Emmett Given

In this undated photo Michael Snyder and Aaron Kemmer monitor the performance of extruders inside the Made In Space experiment box during a microgravity portion of flight aboard a modified Boeing 727 from the Zero G Corporation. 

Credit: AP Photo/Made In Space