* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Globalstar 13-18 satellites

Blobrana · L

Arianespace wrapped up another busy - and historic - 12 months of commercial launch services today by orbiting six satellites for mobile voice and data services on the ninth flight of 2011 - during a year in which the company lofted a total of 29 payloads using the Ariane 5 and Soyuz members of its launcher family.
Today's mission, performed from Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Starsem affiliate of Arianespace, carried the latest cluster of second-generation satellites for Globalstar and utilized the medium-lift Soyuz. This was the third of four such launches contracted to Arianespace by Globalstar for its latest series of spacecraft, and the six payloads orbited during the 1 hour, 40 minute mission will join Globalstar's constellation that provides voice, Duplex and Simplex data products and services.
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Blobrana · L

Arianespace and Starsem orbit six new Globalstar-2 satellites

On Wednesday, December 28, Arianespace and Starsem orbited six new satellites of the Globalstar-2 constellation.
The 1,784th launch of a Soyuz family rocket (Soyuz-Fregat version) took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launcher lifted off at 17:09 Universal Time on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 (11:09 pm local time, 6:09 pm in Paris, and 9:09 am in San Francisco).
Arianespace, Starsem and their Russian partners confirmed that the Fregat orbital stage accurately injected the six Globalstar-2 satellites into their targeted orbit. Two successive firings of the Fregat stage were needed to carry out this mission. After stabilisation of the stage, the dispenser released the two satellites positioned in its upper section; 1 minute and 40 seconds later, the four satellites in the lower part of the dispenser were released simultaneously. The six satellites were injected into orbit 1 hour and 38 minutes after liftoff.
This latest success for the Soyuz launcher - and for the Fregat upper stage (29 missions, 29 successes) - clearly indicates the capabilities of the Samara Space Centre (TsSKB-Progress) and NPO Lavotchkine, as well as the skills of the operating teams working under the authority of Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Each Globalstar-2 satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space, weighs approximately 650 kg at launch. The new constellation features an optimised design to provide telephone and data transmission services to businesses and individuals in more than 120 countries.
The first 12 satellites of the Globalstar-2 constellation were orbited successfully by Arianespace and Starsem on October 19, 2010 and on July 13, 2011.
The 6 other satellites comprising the constellation will be launched from Baikonur by Arianespace and Starsem during the first half of 2012.
From February to November 1999, Starsem had launched the 24 satellites in the Globalstar-1 constellation and in 2007 launched eight replacement satellites.

Source Arianespace

Blobrana · L

Soyuz back in service after failed launch

Five days after a failed launch, the Russian Soyuz rocket system has been pressed back into service.
The vehicle successfully put six spacecraft in orbit for US satellite phone and data company, Globalstar.
The Soyuz lifted away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1709 GMT, ejecting the last of the six Globalstar platforms an hour and 40 minutes later.
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Blobrana · L

Launch of Globalstar-2 Satellites, 3rd Batch

A Soyuz-2-1A rocket launched from Baikonur today, December 28th, at 17:09 UTC. The rocket carried six Globalstar-2 Satellites into orbit.
These satellites will join 12 more Globalstar-2 satellites already in orbit, after launching in October 2010 and July 2011.
The entire Globalstar-2 second generation constellation will consist of 48 satellites and will have a life span of 15 years.

Blobrana · L

The 1,784th launch of a Soyuz family rocket (Soyuz-Fregat version) will orbit six new satellites of the Globalstar-2 constellation. The launcher lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is scheduled at 05:09 pm in UTC on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 (11:09 pm local time, 6:09 pm in Paris, and 9:09 am in San Francisco).

Source Arianespace

Blobrana · L

An Arianespace Soyuz 2-1a rocket with a a Fregat upper stage is scheduled to launch six Globalstar mobile communication satellites (#13-18) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 17:09 GMT, 28th December, 2011.