PICTURE OF THE DAY

FUTURE LUNAR SHIP UNVEILED

During the Farnborough Air Show last week, RKK Energia revealed a concept of the Russian-European ACTS spacecraft. Copyright © 2008 Anatoly Zak

NEXT IN SPACE

Aug. 29: Dnepr to launch five RapidEye satellites from Baikonur. (Delayed from Nov. 26, 2007 and the first and second quarter of 2008)

See more in 2008...

...2009, ...2010, ...2011

...and beyond!

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Acknowledgments:

Publisher would like to thank Alain Chabot from Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, for his tremendous help in making this site possible, as well as following individuals for their support of this project:

Nicholas Abadzis

Christian Cognard

Dave Cooper

Mitch Davis

Charles Durrett

Stefan Eich

Paul Feigelman

Matthew Flammer

Robert Godfrey

Charles William Kauffman

Manish Kumar

Viktor Lapinskii

James Lucas

Robert McClimon

Don Mitchell

William Rierden

Eugene Wan

Andi Wuestner

TOP STORY

Proton is back in business

Published: 2008 Aug. 19

Russia's workhorse Proton-M rocket conducted its first commercial mission Tuesday after the failure in March.

An enhanced version of the Proton M rocket with the Briz M upper stage, lifted off from Pad 39 at the Baikonur cosmodrome on Aug. 19, 2008, at 4:43 local time (22:43 GMT on Aug. 18), carrying the Inmarsat-4 F3 communications satellite.

Nine hours and three minutes after the liftoff, the satellite separated from the upper stage of the launch vehicle in a geosynchronous transfer orbit, the International Launch Services, ILS, announced.

The Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite, a Eurostar 3000GM model built by EADS Astrium, is expected to go into service at 98 degrees West longitude, where it will deliver mobile broadband services over the United States for Inmarsat of London. The F3 satellite, weighing more than 5900 kg, was to be one of the heaviest commercial payloads to date for Proton. According to the manufacturer, the spacecraft was among the most sophisticated commercial satellites ever launched and 60 times more powerful than its predecessors.

In other news:

Russia denies claims of future "tourist missions"

Published: 2008 June 12; updated June 20; July 2

The Russian space boss flatly denied an announcement by US businessmen about the possibility of another tourist mission to the ISS.

Russia and Europe to discuss lunar craft in Moscow

Published: 2008 June 4

With the concept of the future Russian-European transport spacecraft finally decided, potential partners plan to work out technical details.

European industry unveils a manned spacecraft proposal

Published: 2008 May 29; updated June 5

Europe's chief aerospace company EADS Astrium unveiled a full-scale mockup of a three-seat vehicle, designed to enter the Earth orbit and eventually support lunar missions.

Witness on the ground describes Soyuz TMA-11 landing

Published: 2008 May 13

Although rescue helicopters often manage to document Soyuz landings, the Soyuz TMA-11 apparently made a rare touchdown, which was actually witnessed by people on the ground from a relatively short distance.

Russia tries to chart its space future

Published: 2008 April 15

Four years after NASA had announced its intention to return to the Moon, Russian future goals in space remained murky. On April 11, the eve of Cosmonautics Day, the outgoing Russian president Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of his Security Council (known in Russian as Sovet Bezopasnosti), with the official goal of considering various aspects of the Russian space program until 2020.

The first Soyuz-2-1b flies from Plesetsk

Published: 2008 July 27

After a one-day delay by technical problem, the Soyuz-2-1b rocket flew its first mission from Plesetsk with a new-generation military satellite. According to the official Russian press, the launch vehicle blasted on July 26, 2008, at 22:31 Moscow Time, carrying a military satellite designed to work for seven years.

Russia completes German military constellation

Published: 2008 July 22

Russian government launched the fifth and last satellite for the network of German reconnaissance satellites.

Proton launches classified payload

Published: 2008 June 26

The Proton-K with Block DM upper stage rocket blasted off Site 81 in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on June 27, 2008, at 03:59 Moscow Time, the official Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

Rockot delivers satellites

Published: 2008 May 23

A converted ballistic missile delivered a cluster of satellites, after a successful launch from Russia's northern cosmodrome.

Mission to complete Russian GPS system takes off

Published: 2007 Dec. 25

Russia launched a second trio of navigation satellites aimed to complete the national global positioning system.

Russia launches military communications satellite

Published 2007 Dec. 9; updated Dec 10

Russia successfully delivered a classified payload for the nation's armed forces, the official media reported.

Zenit-3SL launches comsat

Published: 2008 July 16

The EchoStar XI broadcast satellite was successfully launched from its ocean-based platform on the Equator, marking its fourth successful mission of 2008 and its third mission for DISH Network, the Sea Launch company announced.

Kap Yar serves as a spaceport again

Published: 2008 June 19

Russia's original ballistic missile test site served as a spaceport for a rare orbital launch attempt. The Cosmos-3M rocket blasted off from the Kapustin Yar military range on June 19, 2008, at 10:36:45 Moscow Time, Russian space agency announced.

Zenit-3SLB flies from Baikonur

Published: 2008 April 28

The Zenit-3SLB, a variation of the Sea Launch-based launch vehicle, flew its first mission from Kazakhstan. The rocket equipped with a DM-SLB upper stage blasted off from Site 45 in Baikonur on April 28, 2008 at 09:00 Moscow Time. It carried Israel's AMOS-3 communications satellite.

Proton fails during launch

Published: 2008 March 15

The workhorse rocket of the Russian space program left its cargo in a useless orbit just half a year after a previous failure.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Russian scientists propose mission to "tag" dangerous asteroid

Published: 2008 June 27; updated June 30

Like a potential criminal tagged with a GPS bracelet, the Earth-threatening space rock could be fitted with a tracking device, helping to watch its orbital movement with precision, Russian scientists said.

Preparing Phobos-Grunt for flight: Events of 2008

Updated: 2008 July 1

By the beginning of 2008, the Phobos-Grunt project was in an active development stage, with engineering versions of scientific instruments and the main spacecraft bus being manufactured.

Russia to jump-start science in space

Published: 2008 June 14

After a decade-long lull, Russian engineers prepare an array of scientific missions to go into the Earth orbit and beyond.

In interview with RussianSpaceWeb.com during the ILA-2008 air and space show in Berlin, Georgy Poleshyuk outlined an ambitious program of planetary exploration starting with the Phobos-Grunt project, which aims to return soil samples from a Martian moon.