Really Rocket Science

Nice job, Arianespace!

The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 6:18 pm local time in Kourou (5:18 pm in Washington, D.C., 21:18 UT, 11:18 pm in Paris, and on Saturday, September 29 at 2:48 am in Bangalore).

ASTRA 2F. Built by Astrium using a Eurostar E3000 platform, ASTRA 2F weighed 6,000 kg at launch. Fitted with active Ku- and Ka-band transponders, ASTRA 2F will be positioned at 28.2 degrees East. It will deliver new-generation DTH TV broadcast services to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and offers a design life of about 15 years.

GSAT-10. Designed, assembled and integrated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore, southern India, GSAT-10 weighed about 3,400 kg at launch and offers a design life exceeding 15 years. The satellite is fitted with 18 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders. Positioned at 83 degrees East, it will provide direct-to-home broadcasting, weather and radio-navigation services. Its coverage zone encompasses the entire Indian sub-continent.

Fantastic collection of the Hubble Space Telescope’s “Top 100 Images” on the ESA site. All beautiful, with some more interesting that others. For example, the “engraved hourglass nebula” or MyCn18…

This is an image of MyCn18, a young planetary nebula located about 8,000 light-years away, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

This Hubble image reveals the true shape of MyCn18 to be an hourglass with an intricate pattern of ‘etchings’ in its walls. This picture has been composed from three separate images taken in the light of ionized nitrogen (represented by red), hydrogen (green), and doubly-ionized oxygen (blue).

The results are of great interest because they shed new light on the poorly understood ejection of stellar matter which accompanies the slow death of Sun-like stars. In previous ground-based images, MyCn18 appears to be a pair of large outer rings with a smaller central one, but the fine details cannot be seen.

Credit: Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger (JPL), the WFPC2 science team, and NASA/ESA

NSR report projects strong long term growth in government and military demand for satellite services in spite of short term slump caused by troop withdrawals and budgetary challenges.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Dish Network offers broadband Internet to underserved U.S. rural market.
[Chicago Tribune – 09/28/2012]

Indra closes with European Space Agency the definition of requirements for management system for Spanish satellite Ingenio.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Beam Communicatons entire range of Inmarsat products approved for sale into Japanese market.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Astrium Services is awarded ESCPC framework contract by the EDA for commercial satellite communications for European military needs.
[Defence Professionals – 09/28/2012]

Four instruments on the Metop-B weather satellite activated this week.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Danish shipping company TORMN selects Inmarsat XpressLink to deliver next generation high-speed broadband to its entire bulk carrier and tanker fleets.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Iridium Pilot terminals to be added to NSSLGlobal’s portfolio.
[SatNews – 09/28/2012]

Canadian pioneer in space technologies recalls NASA’s first reservations that Alouette satellite program was too ambitious.
[The Province – 09/28/2012]

Arianespace’s Ariane 5 mission with ASTRA 2F and GSAT-10 gets go ahead for September 28. [Space Ref – 09/27/2012]

GE Capital’s GE 23 satellite goes to Eutelsat.
[Digital Edge – 09/27/2012]

TCS, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin team to produce affordable satellite terminals for protected communications on the move and at the halt.
[Defence Professionals – 09/26/2012]

First ECME and live hybrid event in Dubai and Bahrain deemed huge success.
[AME info – 09/26/2012]

Satellite communications have crucial role in helping bridge digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa.
[African Business Review – 09/26/2012]

Astrium reveals first demo of robotics in space for maintenance and disposal of satellites.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

ORBCOMM’s first OG2 satellite to launch on October 7.
[4-traders – 09/25/2012]

Collaborative efforts of stakeholders in the satellite industry and Pacific militaries improve disaster preparedness in the Pacific with training program at Changi Naval Base.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

Spacenet to showcase “Pay-as-You-Use” emergency communications solutions at International Association of Chiefs of Police.
[Daily Finance – 09/25/2012]

Bentley Walker unveils new Freedomsat service to Iraq and Afghanistan, the fastest satellite broadband connection available in both countries to date.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

Cassidian and Astrium enhance regional Tatrapol networks, enabling interconnection of the networks over satellite.
[Defence Professionals – 09/25/2012]

Air Force Space Command to build Space Fence radar site on Kwajalein Island in 2017.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

ViaSat developing a vertically integrated communications play.
[Seeking Alpha – 09/25/2012]

Russia’s first satellite manufactured and operated by a private firm to be launched next year.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

Vizada to showcase latest innovations in maritime communications at National Marine Electronics Conference in Orlando, FL.
[SatNews – 09/25/2012]

Telesat mounts PR offensive in Nunavut to prove relevance of satellite communications in spite of the company’s battered reputation.
[Succeed – 09/24/2012]

U.S. Weather satellite used for East coast hurricanes is busted.
[SatNews – 09/24/2012]

SpaceXs Grasshopper vertical takeoff and landing test vehicle takes first test flight hop.
[SatNews – 09/24/2012]

Lockheed Martin reaches major software design milestone in development of “switchboard in the sky” for Iridium NEXT constellation.
[Sacramento Bee – 09/24/2012]

MDA-Loral satellite deal clears U.S. national security hurdle.
[Reuters – 09/21/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services