November 26, 2010

Satellite Broadband to Connect Europe (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Europe’s first Ka band satellite delivering broadband internet to remote consumers across Europe was launched Friday. All things going well, the £120 million ($190 million) HYLAS 1 will deliver high speed, two-way data services across Europe. The service offers 2Mbps up to 10Mbps download and up to 5 Mbps upload speeds; prices start from around €25 ($33) a month. It is aimed at remote rural locations too far from hubs to lay copper or fibre connections.here above the Atlantic. (11/26)

Space - The EU Frontier? (Source: Irish Times)
In the face of straitened times on Planet Earth, ESA director Prof David Southwood argues the case for continuing to fund space missions. Intercepting asteroids, charting the evolution of stars, circling Mars to map organic molecules and even landing on the red planet to collect and analyze materials. These are all on the European Space Agency (ESA)’s to-do list over coming years. At a time when the economy on planet Earth isn’t quite as flush as it used to be, is now really the time to be spending on space ventures that push back the frontiers? (11/26)

Obama Leaves His Mark on U.S. Space Policy (Source: Xinhua)
Since the 1950s, when the American began marching into the space, each U.S. administration has issued public summary of its main principles and goals for using space. There was no exception for the Obama administration. On June 28, Obama unveiled his space policy, reiterating plans to send Americans to visit an asteroid by 2025 with the goal of sending astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s, calling for more commercial and international sector cooperation on space exploration. Click here to read the article. (11/26)

Russian Commission Approves New ISS Crew (Source: RIA Novosti)
A Russian governmental commission has approved the main and back-up crews for a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight will take off from the Baikanur Space Center in Kazakhstan on December 15 and the ship will dock with the ISS on December 17. The main crew includes Russian Cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratev, NASA Astronaut Catherine Coleman and European Space Agency Astronaut Paolo Nespoli. (11/26)

Ariane 5 Launches With Dual-Payload Flight (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
An Ariane 5 rocket launched Friday with two spacecraft, hauling into orbit a traditional fixed communications satellite for Intelsat and an adaptable broadband Internet services payload for U.K.-based Avanti Communications. (11/26)

ISS Crew Lands Safely in Kazakh Steppe (Source: Itar-Tass)
The Soyuz capsule with the three crewmembers of ISS Expedition 24/25 -- Fyodor Yuгchikhin, Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock-- landed softly at 07:46 Moscow time in the Kazakh steppe, a Mission Control Center source told Itar-Tass. The capsule landed in the planned area north of Arkalyk. (11/26)