February 24 News Items

Launch Failure! OCO Trapped in Shroud (Source: Florida Today)
A $273.4-million NASA mission to map a key greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere has failed to reach its intended orbit. The payload shroud surrounding the Orbiting Carbon Observatory spacecraft apparently failed to separate more than 12 minutes into a flight that began at 4:55 a.m. EST from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The shroud, also called the nose cone or fairing, should have separated like a clam shell. "It either did not separate or did not separate in the way that it should. But, at any rate, we are still trying to evaluate exactly what the status of the spacecraft is at this point and confirm the location and the orbit and the exact state the spacecraft is in." (2/24)

Launch Failure Upsets NASA Earth Science Program (Source: Times Online)
Today's crash jeopardizes NASA's flagship satellite constellation system, which aimed to coordinate the results of seven satellites, monitoring different aspects of the Earth's environment. The Obama Administration has signaled its desire for NASA to concentrate on such environmental monitoring and the launch failure comes at an embarrassing time for the agency as it awaits the White House’s appointment of a new head.

The agency already has five satellites in orbit, monitoring air and water temperatures, rainfall patterns and ozone levels. They were due to be joined by the OCO and another satellite named Glory later this year. The launch of the Glory satellite, scheduled for September, will not be sanctioned until the outcome of an internal investigation into today's OCO crash by the Mishap Investigation Board. Steve Cole, a spokesman for NASA, said: "Nobody is pushing the button on Glory [the next Earth science satellite] until we know exactly what happened." (2/24)

AsiaSat 5 Switched from Land Launch to Proton (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator AsiaSat has scrapped a contract to launch its AsiaSat 5 spacecraft aboard Sea Launch Co.'s new Land Launch vehicle in favor of an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton launch in July or August, AsiaSat announced Feb. 24. The decision will cost Hong Kong-based AsiaSat some $35 million in extra launch fees but will put AsiaSat 5 in orbit a year earlier than currently scheduled. (2/24)

North Korea Preparing Rocket Launch (Source: Reuters)
North Korea said on Tuesday it was preparing to launch a satellite on one of its rockets, which analysts have said would actually be the test-firing of a long-range missile designed to strike U.S. territory. The announcement, which unsettled financial markets in South Korea, follows weeks of angry rhetoric from Pyongyang aimed at the conservative government in Seoul and warnings that the Korean peninsula was on the verge of war. Analysts said Pyongyang was using brinkmanship to put pressure on the new U.S. government and its main allies in the region, South Korea and Japan, to reverse tough policies against the North. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a trip to Asia last week, warned North Korea against any provocative moves."The preparations for launching an experimental communications satellite ... are now making brisk headway," North Korea's KCNA news agency said. (2/24)

South Korea Warns North Satellite Launch Would Breach UN Order (Source: RIA Novosti)
The launch of even a non-military satellite by North Korea would be considered a breach of a UN Security Council resolution, South Korea's ambassador to Russia said. Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman from North Korea's Committee on Aerospace Technologies said preparations were underway on the eastern coast of the country to launch a telecommunications satellite, though no date was named. "Any rocket with a range of over 300 kilometers [185 miles] may be considered ballistic," Li Gyu Hyen said. "Therefore, if North Korea launches a carrier rocket with a satellite, it would be considered a breach of the UN Security Council resolution." Intelligence sources earlier said North Korea was probably preparing to fire a long-range Taepodong-2 missile from the newly constructed Musudan-ri launch pad on the country's northeast coast. (2/24)