Satellite Industry News Bits December 11, 2009

NASA's scheduled Friday launch of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is rescheduled for December 14 because of problems discovered in a rocket booster steering engine.
[Chicago Sun Times - 12/11/2009]

Gilat Satellite Networks is chosen by STL Ghana to provide a SkyEdge II broadband satellite network to service its customers throughout West Africa.
[Space Mart - 12/10/2009]

UK to have dedicated space agency to direct its space policy and represent it in all dealings with international partners.
[BBC News - 12/10/2009]

Mysterious light display leaves Norwegians and astronomers puzzled; best guesses are a Russian missile test or a meteor.
[POPSCI - 12/10/2009]

Orbital Sciences' Taurus II CASTOR 30 rocket motor successfully test fired.
[SatNews - 12/10/2009]

Globalstar expands distribution of SPOT satellite GPS Messenger to Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay.
[CNN Money - 12/10/2009]

Eutelsat signs contact with Italian telecoms operator Brennercom to deploy Eutelsat's Tooway broadband satellite service in the Tyrol region.
[Satellite Today - 12/10/2009]

Chinese rocket launches with top secret spy satellite believed to be a military reconnaissance satellite.
[Spaceflight Now - 12/09/2009]

Launch of French military satellite from Kourou delayed at least a couple of days due to an anomaly in the launcher subsystem.
[Newsvine - 12/09/2009]

Signals acquired by Boeing from the third of six Wideband Global SATCOM satellites indicate that the spacecraft is healthy and ready to begin orbital maneuvers and operational testing.
[Space War - 12/09/2009]

Hughes and Sky Perfect JSAT provide capacity to expand satellite broadband services over Afghanistan.
[Satellite Today - 12/09/2009]

Vizada donates BGAN terminals to Humaninet, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating humanitarian organizations about the tremendous benefits of using satellite communications to support relief and development efforts.
[SatNews - 12/09/2009]

Virgin Galactic unveils space tourism's new carrier, FSS Enterprise - cost for a 2 1/2 hour flight with five minutes of weightlessness: $200,000.
[R&D Magazine - 12/09/2009]

NASA still has not received approval for replacement of the failed Carbon-Observing Satellite which could provide baseline data for monitoring compliance with a new climate treaty being negotiated in Copenhagen.
[Spaceflight Now - 12/08/2009]

NASA announces competition for engineering students to develop ideas on how future explorers might live  on the moon.
[Space Travel - 12/08/2009]

NASA partners with Dynetics and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation to successfully complete environmental testing of the Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite.
[SatNews - 12/08/2009]

Space elevator entrepreneurs pursue their improbable-sounding goal vigorously, claiming it could reshape the global economy.
[CNN Money - 12/08/2009]

SatLink Communications and SES WORLD SKIES launch a DS3 fiber link connecting their teleport facilities.
[SatNews - 12/08/2009]

International Datacasting Corp. completes acquisition of select terrestrial, satellite, and IP product lines and related technology from Logic Innovations.
[Satellite Today - 12/08/2009]

Avanti signs contract with Spanish service provider Satconxion to provide additional broadband capacity on the Hylas 1 satellite.
[Satellite Today - 12/08/2009]

325 ft. tall Ares I-X test rocket launched using attitude control system from decommissioned PeaceKeeper missiles.  Ares I rocket is to be used in the Constellation space program.
[Space Travel - 12/07/2009]

Over a hundred senior managers and experts from the European space industry, national agencies, and ESA attend conference in Geneva to learn about commercial opportunities offered by ESA's planned data relay satellite system.
[Space Mart - 12/07/2009]

India hopes to join cryogenic rocket engine club with the launch of its heaviest rocket, the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle, in January 2010.
[Space Travel - 12/07/2009]

P&L International announces state of the art phase array satellite communications system for cruise ships, super yachts, and airlines.
[PR Newswire - 12/07/2009]

Ariancespace marks 30th anniversary of Ariane's first flight with celebration in Washington D.C.
[Space Travel - 12/07/2009]

Ideas on implementing an orbital debris removal capability were submitted in response to a Request for Information released in September; this week DARPA/NASA sponsored an International Conference on Orbital Debris Removal in Chantilly Virginia.
[SpaceMart - 12/07/2009] 

DTH in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia - more platforms, channels, and subscribers, but inevitable consolidation is seen in NSR report.
[NSR Global Direct to Home Markets, 2nd Edition - December 2009]

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