REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING

SMOS SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - A rocket carrying the European Space Agency's (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite (2 November) blasted off successfully today at 02:50 Central European Time from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Professor Meric Srokosz of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, a co-investigator on the mission, has been involved in the project since its inception, having proposed the mission with colleagues in France and Spain back in 1998.   More
(Source: Science Daily)

NASA PREPS FOR FINAL SHUTTLE LAUNCH - NASA picked up a practice countdown at Kennedy Space Center this morning as the agency pressed ahead with preparations for the planned Nov. 16 launch of Atlantis and six astronauts on an International Space Station outfitting mission. Atlantis and a crew led by veteran shuttle pilot Charlie Hobaugh are slated to blast off at 2:28 p.m. Nov. 16, hauling up a payload that includes two $30 million logistics carriers, an ammonia tank assembly, a nitrogen tank assembly, a dome-shaped gyroscope, a spare "hand" for the station's robotic arm and a variety of other large spares.    More
(Source: USA Today)

ATLANTIS' PAYLOAD DELIVERED - NASA - The cargo for space shuttle Atlantis' mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was moved to a launch pad and will be installed into the shuttle's payload bay, NASA has said. It said technicians would finish testing Atlantis' waste collection system this weekend and ground teams were getting ready for the final part of launch dress rehearsal known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT).   More
(Source: RIA Novosti)

ARRAYS ARRANGED, NSS-12'S POST LAUNCH MANEUVERS SUCCESSFUL - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has announced that NSS-12, a satellite built for SES WORLD SKIES, a subsidiary of SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange:SESG), is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers. The satellite deployed its solar arrays Thursday evening, following its launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite's first thruster firing will propel it toward its final geosynchronous orbit.    More
(Source: SatNews.com)

HTV CARGO SHIP DEPARTS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Japan's first cargo-carrying freighter was set free from the International Space Station on Friday, beginning its new role as a garbage scow loaded with 1,600 pounds of trash from the complex. Under the control of Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk, the outpost's robotic arm unberthed the H-2 Transfer Vehicle from the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module at 1502 GMT (11:32 a.m. EDT) Friday.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now)

SPACE JUNK THREAT DELAYS JAPANESE SPACESHIP'S STATION DEPARTURE - A piece of space junk orbiting Earth has forced NASA to tweak upcoming plans for the Friday departure of Japan's first cargo ship to the International Space Station. The debris, a wayward chunk of an old Russian satellite, poses no risk to the space station, but could be a threat to the H-2 Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned Japanese freighter making its maiden flight, after it departs Friday.    More
(Source: Space.com)

NASA: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS 'GO' FOR NOV. 16 LAUNCH - NASA on Thursday gave the go-ahead for a Nov. 16 launch of the year’s final space shuttle mission, an 11-day flight to deliver critical spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis is scheduled to blast off from Kennedy Space Center at 2:28 p.m.    More
(Source: Florida Today)

NEW MOON ROCKET DAMAGED IN TEST FLIGHT, NASA SAYS - NASA has discovered a large dent on its brand-new moon rocket after the booster splashed into the Atlantic Ocean at the end of a test flight this week. The damage to the new Ares I-X rocket, which launched from Florida Wednesday on a short test flight, was spotted by a diving team sent to recover the booster's first stage. The first stage — a giant solid rocket booster — was dented near its base. NASA spokesperson Amber Philman told SPACE.com that the space agency is still awaiting word on what may have caused the damage.    More
(Source: Space.com)

ARIANE 5 ROCKET HAULS UP ANOTHER DOUBLE PAYLOAD STACK - For this second time this month, the workhorse Ariane 5 rocket carried out a double satellite deployment mission just like clockwork on Thursday and set the stage to break its record for flights in a single year. The hydrogen-fueled main engine roared to life at the appointed moment of 2000 GMT (4:00 p.m. EDT), followed seven seconds later by ignition of the twin solid rocket boosters to begin thundering out of the Guiana Space Center in Kourou on the northeastern coast of South America.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now)