April 28 News Items

India's PSLV Rocket Launches Multiple Satellites (Source: SpaceToday.net)
An Indian PSLV rocket launched a remote sensing satellite and nine smaller spacecraft early Monday. The "core alone" PSLV, which has no strap-on boosters, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan spaceport and placed its payload of ten satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 637 km. The primary payload on the PSLV is Cartosat-2A, a high-resolution remote sensing satellite capable of taking images with a resolution of one meter. (4/28)

Land Launch Rocket Places First Satellite Into Orbit (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The first mission for the Land Launch commercial venture successfully placed an Israeli communications satellite into orbit early Monday. The Zenit-3SLB lifted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan and placed the Amos-3 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite, built by Israel Aerospace Industries, weighs 1,270 kg at launch and carries a set of Ku- and Ka-band transponders. The launch was the first for Land Launch, a joint venture between Sea Launch Company and Russian firm Space International Services. Land Launch used a modified version of Sea Launch's Zenit-3SL launched from Baikonur and is designed to serve the market for smaller GEO satellites. (4/28)

Satellite Firm Prepares For Launches by China (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Helping to boost Beijing's commercial ambitions in space, French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications Group SA has purchased precedent-setting insurance enabling it to use Chinese rockets for future launches, according to company and industry officials. Covering as many as nine satellites, the insurance package is the first time since the 1990s that China's Long March rocket has been designated to put a large telecommunications satellite into orbit for a mainstream Western operator.

Notes on the State of the RLV Industry in 2008 (Source: Space Review)
While NASA has all but abandoned efforts to develop reusable launch vehicle technology, RLV efforts continue elsewhere in government and the private sector. Taylor Dinerman explores the status of those efforts, including some surprising new developments from a large aerospace company. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1114/1 to view the article. (4/28)

The Satellite Shootdown: the Rest of the Story (Source: Space Review)
The intercept of USA 193 earlier this year required the cooperation of multiple agencies and the combination of data from various sources. Robert Eleazer compares that to an earlier effort to create a "Space Test Range" during the SDI era. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1113/1 to view the article. (4/28)

Review: Shuttle Launch Experience (Source: Space Review)
If you can't get a chance to fly on the space shuttle in its final years, what's the best way to experience what a shuttle launch is like? Jeff Foust reviews a highly-detailed simulator of a shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center's visitor center. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1112/1 to view the article. (4/28)

Army to Launch Sats After 50 Year Lull (Source: Military.com)
The U.S. Army plans to build and launch into orbit a constellation of satellites for the first time in roughly 50 years. And it plans to build the cluster of eight miniature communications satellites within as little as nine months. The roughly $5 million effort is part of the Army's commitment to what is known as Operationally Responsive Space. This is "a pathfinder project to fulfill an urgent need for beyond line of sight communications capability," said James Lee, chief of strategy and policy for Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Alabama. (4/28)

Former Titan Launch Tower Demolished for SpaceX (Source: CFL-13)
After more than 40 years hosting rockets, a Cape Canaveral launch pad came crashing down Sunday. More than 200 pounds of explosives were used to bring down the Titan launch tower. When it was built, the tower was the largest moving object on Earth. The 265-foot tall tower was used to launch projects such as NASA's Cassini probe. The site will now become the new home to Space X's new Falcon rockets. Much of the tower's debris will be recycled, which is about 6,500 tons of steel. Money made from selling the material will pay for the demolition. (4/28)

Mars Landing Sites Targeted (Source: Baltimore Examiner)
Planetary geologists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in are poring over spectrograph data of the Red Planet, looking for sites for human exploration. The list is down to six locations, said an APL official, using data provided by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. “We’re continuing to extensively map the planet as much as we can, both at high resolution and the global image,” she said. (4/28)