Thales, Airbus Are in Talks to Build Spain's New Spy Satellites

Spanish satellite operator Hisdesat is in talks with Airbus and Thales about an order to build two military communication satellites for the Spanish government.
Spain’s industry ministry last week approved a 750 million-euro ($880 million) loan for Hisdesat to finance the replacement satellites while the defense ministry is ready to pay 1.4 billion euros over a period of 15 years from 2023 as the new satellites’ most important client.
The satellites will have resilience to nuclear events and interference, and will comply with NATO and EU requirements.
Hisdesat’s biggest investor is satellite operator Hispasat SA with 43 percent and the Spanish defense ministry has 30 percent, according to the company’s website. Airbus Defense & Space has a 15 percent stake, while Indra Sistemas SA and Sener are smaller equity holders. The company’s biggest customers after Spain are the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon.
Hisdesat is putting in place a new generation of satellites at a time when Spain is leading the development of an EU-wide command system that will allow troops from the bloc to communicate without relying on third-party contractors or local capabilities. It’s also heading up a project to pool government satellites that could also contribute to the new system.
bloomberg

DARPA Scraps Plan To Launch Small Sats from F-15

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has scrapped plans to launch small satellites from a modified F-15 fighter jet after two tests of a new rocket fuel ended in explosions this year.
Instead DARPA will spend the next year studying how to harness the volatile nitrous oxide-acetylene propellant and, in parallel, modifications to existing small rockets that would enable the agency place small satellites on orbit on 24 hours notice at a cost of less than $1 million.
In March 2014, Boeing Defense Space and Security of Huntington Beach, California, won a contract potentially worth $104 million to build and demonstrate the Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) system. The program was intended to demonstrate the capability to launch up to 45 kilograms of payload into low Earth orbit on short notice for as little as $1 million.
spacenews

US Says China Tested Anti-Satellite Missile

The U.S. says China has tested a missile designed to destroy satellites and is urging Beijing to refrain from destabilizing actions.
The "non-destructive" test occurred Wednesday. A previous destructive test of the system in 2007 created thousands of pieces of dangerous debris in space.
Continued development and testing of destructive anti-satellite systems threaten the long-term security and sustainability of the outer-space environment.
China's state-run Xinhua (shihn-wah) news agency, citing a Defense Ministry statement, reported a successful missile interception test conducted from land within Chinese territory late Wednesday.
Xinhua did not refer to it as an anti-satellite system. It said such tests could strengthen Chinese air defense against ballistic missiles.
abcnews

Atlas 5 Launches Classified Satellite from Cape Canaveral

An Atlas 5 rocket carrying a classified payload lifted off April 10 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., following a 16-day delay caused by technical issues at the launch range.
Denver-based United Launch Alliance conducted the launch on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office, the Chantilly, Va.-based federal agency responsible for the design, construction and operation of the country’s intelligence-gathering satellites.
Because the mission is classified, few details about the launch or the payload’s purpose were publicly released. Liftoff of the mission, known as NROL-67, occurred at 1:45 p.m. local time.
The mission went into a media blackout shortly after its successful liftoff, but the Air Force confirmed in a press release the successful launch.
The launch, originally scheduled for March 25, was delayed due to a down-range tracking radar that overheated and stopped working, U.S. Air Force officials said. The glitch also delayed a scheduled launch of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Falcon 9 from the Cape.
Repairs of the radar were expected to take three weeks, but the Air Force was able to press another radar that had been in “standby status” into duty for the April 10 launch, the service said in an April 7 press release.
spacenews

China tested road mobile satellite launcher

China has successfully tested a road mobile satellite launch vehicle dubbed Kuaizhou on Sept. 25.
alert5

US-Australian military communications satellite launched

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV launch vehcile lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, carrying a military communications satellite.
The rocket lifted off on 7 August, successfully lofting the sixth Wideband Global Satellite (WGS 6) into geosynchronous orbit.
The Delta IV flew in medium-plus configuration, with a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68-powered core stage, four solid rocket boosters, and one Rocketdyne RL-10-powered upper stage.
flightglobal

France selling two Helios military observation satellites to UAE

France's Ministry of Defense has sold two military satellites Type Helios to United Arab Emirates.

Russia set to launch 4 Glonass satellites this year

Russia plans to launch for more satellites for the GLONASS navigation system by the end of this year, the Aerospace Defense Forces head said on Saturday.
rian.ru

Chinese rocket launches Turkish satellite

A Chinese Long March 2D, launched on 18 December from Jiuquan in north-central China, has orbited a Turkish government payload.

The Gokturk-2 satellite successfully reached orbit, according to Chinese state media, though no official confirmation has yet been made of contact with the satellite

ZACH ROSENBERG-flightglobal

Boeing delivers two nanosatellites to USAF

oeing has delivered two Space Environmental NanoSat Experiment (SENSE) satellites to the U.S. Air Force that will help assess the value of small satellites in military space operations.

Weighing less than 9 pounds (4 kilograms) each and measuring 30 x 10 x 10 centimeters in size, the nanosats are scheduled to launch on the ORS-3 mission in the summer of 2013 and shortly after will begin collecting and transmitting weather data.
boeing

Lockheed Martin Initial Contract for Next Set of Missile Warning Satellites

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin an $82 million contract to begin initial work on the fifth and sixth geosynchronous (GEO) satellites in the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) missile warning constellation.

spacewar

Sudan’s Dictator Wants Satellites to Stop Spying on His Crimes

MirageC14 reports:
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has issues with satellites. It’s not that he would mind some of his own, if Sudan suddenly developed a working space program. It’s rather those pesky foreign satellites snooping on Bashir’s war crimes and state-orchestrated genocide that he wants to get rid of.

learn more

Israel lanza satélite espía/ Israel launches spy satellite

Israel ha lanzado el satélite espía Ofek 9 desde la base de Palmahim, a bordo de un cohete Shavit fabricado por Israel Aerospace Industries. Es el tercer satélite israelí en el espacio.
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Israel on Tuesday launched a Ofek 9 spy satellite into space from its Palmahim air base.
The satellite was carried into space on board an Israel Aerospace Industries-manufactured Shavit rocket. This will Israel’s third spy satellite in space.
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Singapur Lanzará su primer satelite de construcción nacional/Singapore to Launch Its Own Domestically Built Satellite

Singapur lanzará su primer satelite de construcción nacional a mediados de 2010. Se trata de un microsatélite de 120 kg de peso, y será lanzado desde una base de lanzamientos en India. El X-Sat, está en desarrollo por Nanyang Technological University (NTU) y DSO National Laboratories, será parcialmente propulsado por energía solar, y estará durante tres años en órbita a 800 km de altura. Oficialmente su misión es obtener información medioambiental. Su coste estimado es de unos 29 millones de dólares.
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Singapore is set to launch its own domestically built satellite, X-Sat, into space in mid 2010. The 120kg micro-satellite will launch atop an Indian Space Research Organisation-built polar satellite launch vehicle.
X-Sat, which is being developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and DSO National Laboratories, will be partly powered by solar energy and spend three years in orbit at an altitude of 800km, according to Strait Times.
Collecting images measuring soil erosion and monitoring environmental changes the micro-satellite relays information from sensors to a ground station at NTU.
X-Sat is expected to cost approximately S$40m (US$29m) and is scheduled to launch in June-July 2010.