Arianespace Set To Launch Japanese JCSAT-12 Satellite In 2009

JSAT Corp. tapped Arianespace to launch its JCSAT-12 communications satellite.

Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Kiyoshi Isozaki, president and CEO of JSAT, signed a contract for the JCSAT-12 satellite.

This is the 24th launch contract won by Arianespace in Japan out of 33 commercial contracts in the competitive market.

JCSAT-12 will be launched by an Ariane 5 during summer 2009 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

JCSAT-12 will provide service covering Japan, the Asia-Pacific region and Hawaii. Built by Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] unit Commercial Space Systems in Newtown, Pa., JCSAT-12 is designed for a minimum of 15 years in-orbit life and will serve as backup satellite for other JSAT satellites.

Boeing Delta II Launches Satellite For DigitalGlobe

The Boeing Co. [BA] launched the WorldView-1 satellite for DigitalGlobe aboard a Delta II rocket.

Lift-off occurred from Pad SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Delta II rocket deployed the spacecraft approximately 73 minutes after lift-off.

The WorldView-1 satellite will provide commercial, high-resolution images of Earth, and is capable of collecting, storing and down-linking more frequently updated imagery than any other commercial imaging satellite in orbit.

The "launch of WorldView-1 marks our second successful commercial launch for Boeing Launch Services in 2007 and puts us on track for a very successful year with two of our three scheduled launches completed," said Ken Heinly, director of Boeing Launch Services.

The launch also marks the 75th consecutive successful launch of a Delta II rocket. Boeing designed the "workhorse" launch vehicle and operated it until Dec. 1, when the United Launch Alliance joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] was formed to support the U.S. government. Boeing Launch Services purchased the launch vehicle and associated support services from United Launch Alliance.

NASA Sets Future Launches

Sept. 27 Dawn

The Dawn Mission will be the first time a spacecraft will orbit two planetary bodies on a single voyage as it studies Ceres and Vesta.

Launch window: 7:20 to 7:49 a.m. EDT

Oct. 23 + STS-120

STS-120 will be the twenty-third mission to the International Space Station and will deliver the U.S. Node 2 Harmony module expanding the space station’s capability for future international laboratories.

Launch Time: 11:38 a.m. EDT

Dec. 6 + STS-122

STS-122 will deliver the Columbus European Laboratory Module and will be the twenty-fourth mission to the International Space Station.

2008

Feb. 5 GLAST

An heir to its successful predecessor — the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory — the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope will have the ability to detect gamma rays in a range of energies from thousands to hundreds of billions of times more energetic than the light visible to the human eye. Radiation of such magnitude can only be generated under the most extreme conditions, thus GLAST will focus on studying the most energetic objects and phenomena in the universe.

Feb. 14 + STS-123

Mission STS-123 on Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the pressurized section of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Logistics Module (ELM-PS) on the twenty-fifth mission to the International Space Station.

Feb. 21 Block 2010 R/R

STSS Block 2010 Risk Reduction serves as a pathfinder for future launch and mission technology for the Missile Defense Agency.

To be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

April 1 STSS

STSS B06 is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator and is part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors and interceptors.

To be launched by NASA for the MDA.

April 21 GOES-O

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science. GOES-O is a NASA/NOAA mission that will launch off a ULA Delta IV launch vehicle from Launch Complex 37.

April 24 + STS-124

Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124 will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM RMS) to the International Space Station.

June 15 OSTM/Jason 2

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite will be a follow-on to the Jason mission. It will launch on a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

June 15 IBEX

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer will launch from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll and Wake Island from an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket.

June 25 + TacSat-3

NASA will support the Air Force launch of the TacSat-3 satellite, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate. TacSat-3 will demonstrate the capability to furnish real-time data to the combatant commander.

Aug. 7 STS-125

Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities through 2013.

Sept. 18 + STS-126

Mission STS-126 on Space Shuttle Endeavour on assembly flight ULF2, will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station.

Oct. 31 LRO/LCROSS

The mission objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are to advance the Vision for Space Exploration by confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon’s North or South Pole.

Nov. 1 Kepler

The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.

Dec. 15 OCO

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is a new Earth orbiting mission sponsored by NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

Source: NASA