News Summaries for November 26

India Mulls Unmanned Mars Mission by 2013 (Source: Khaleejtimes.com)
Indian space scientists plan to send an unmanned mission to Mars by 2013 to look for evidence of life. The six-to-eight-month mission, likely to be launched in the next seven years, would cost $67 million. “Mars is emerging on our horizon. The geo-stationary launch vehicle can take a payload to Mars and our Deep Space Network can track it all the way,” said ISRO's chairman. The mission will study the chemical attributes of the Martian atmosphere and the planet’s sub-soil and terrain. India plans to send its first unmanned probe to the moon in two or three years’ time.

GlobalStar Says $1.2 Billion Will Fund Next Constellation (Source: Space News)
Rebutting industry skeptics, Globalstar says its next-generation satellite constellation will be built and launched for no more than $1.2 billion, insisting that a firm contract for the work would be signed within “days or weeks.” The company, which uses its constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to provide a global mobile telephony service, also announced that an affiliate of its principal shareholder, Thermo Capital Partners of New Orleans and Denver, has had agreed to purchase $32.3 million in Globalstar stock.

Orbcomm Planning To Launch 7 Satellites in 2007 (Source: Space News)
Orbcomm Inc. expects its next satellite, which will be specially equipped for U.S. Coast Guard use, to be launched in the first half of 2007. The company also plans to launch with six other Orbcomm machine-to-machine messaging satellites separately during the same period. Orbcomm operates a 30-satellite constellation to track assets and read remote meters.

NASA To Order Replacement TDRS Satellites in 2007 (Source: Space News)
NASA is taking preliminary steps to eventually replace toward buying replacements for the constellation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) it relies on to communicate with the space shuttle and nearly two dozen other spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

Italy Seeks Exploration Leadership (Source: Space News)
Italy’s decision to stake out a leading role for itself in Europe’s emerging space exploration program could may be the catalyst Germany needs to boost its own investment in the field, according to a German space official. The prospect of Italy leading Europe’s program to explore the Moon and Mars over the next two decades would be difficult to accept in Germany, which has long been second only to France in Europe’s space-spending hierarchy. On some European programs, including the international space station, Germany is Europe’s biggest financial contributor.