Longueuil, Quebec, September 29, 2013 (CSA PR) – The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is proud to announce that Canadian satellite, Cascade Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) was successfully launched today at noon (12:00 p.m. EDT). Lift off took place from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

CASSIOPE is the first Canadian hybrid satellite to carry a dual mission in the fields of telecommunications and scientific research. The main objectives are to gather information to better understand the science of space weather, while verifying high-speed communications concepts through the use of advanced space technologies.

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Artist’s conception of Ariane 6. (Credit: ESA)

Courcouronnes, France, September 30, 2013 (Snecma PR) — Snecma has kicked off a new series of tests of the Snecma (Safran) Vinci® cryogenic rocket engine intended for the upper stages of the new Ariane launchers, the upgraded Ariane 5ME (Midlife Evolution) and the brand-new Ariane 6. The first two tests of the No. 5 development engine, on September 10 and 26, were a complete success.

The Vinci® M5 variant features a hydrogen turbopump that incorporates the latest configuration changes. Lasting ten months, this series of tests will include a total of 16 firing tests and will enable validating the latest modifications in order to freeze the design by the end of 2014.

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An announcement from the London Evening Standard: Readers will tomorrow be able to enter the competition on standard.co.uk for the once-in-a-lifetime flight. The  competition,  held in association with National Lottery organisers Camelot,  to celebrate the launch of the new Lotto this weekend, is open until October 20 and the only entry requirement is to buy at least one Lotto ticket during that period. Called the Lynx, the two-seater craft will […]

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Training Update Via SXC August 26th, 27th and 29th were all about training with a new group of astronauts. The Desdemona training was the first step in the preparation for Space for Japanese movie star Koichi Iwaki. Mr. Iwaki was a bit taken by the G- forces he experienced when SXC’s pilot Harry van Hulten took him up in the L-39 flight, but nevertheless, he was very impressed. SXC was […]

GOLauncher 2. (Credit: Generation Orbit)

ATLANTA, September 30 2013 (GO PR) — Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc. (GO) has been selected to launch a group of three 3U CubeSats to a 425 km orbit under NASA’s Enabling eXploration and Technology (NEXT) contract.

Under this competitively awarded, $2.1M commercial procurement, NASA will become the inaugural customer for the company’s new GOLauncher 2 vehicle, currently in development. The NEXT flight is scheduled to take place in 2016. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center will be responsible for program management.

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SOAR spaceplane atop an A-300. (Credit: S3)

PAYERNE, Switzerland (S3 PR) — Aerospace company Swiss Space Systems – S3 and Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) have announced today the signing of their partnership.

The most prestigious Russian engineering institute joins the very selective group of international technical advisors to S3. This new partnership between the Russian university and the aerospace company will enable BMSTU students to have on-site training at S3 within the scope of their collocation at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, and to pursue their research work in relations to S3 propulsion systems, one of the key elements for the SOAR shuttle and its expendable upper stage.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, congratulates Orbital Sciences on a successful launch of the Antares rocket and on the berthing of the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the International Space Station.

Orbital’s successful mission also represents a milestone for CASIS: The first-ever CASIS-funded payloads have now arrived at the ISS. Orbital’s Cygnus cargo capsule berthed with the station Sunday morning.

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This week on The Space Show with David Livingston: 1. Monday, Sept. 30, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome CHARLES MILLER to the back to the program. Charles Miller is the President of NexGen Space LLC, which provides client-based services at the intersection of commercial, civil, and national security space and public policy. He is also a strong advocate of public/private partnerships to achieve […]

Well, this time was different. The rocket didn’t nose dive into the ground, its upper stage didn’t crap out midway through its burn, and the payload didn’t end up in the Pacific because someone overfilled the fuel tank.

Three months after a spectacular crash at the Baikonur Cosmodrome destroyed three satellites, Russia’s venerable and (in recent years) failure-prone Proton launch vehicle flew successfully last night, sending the ASTRA 2E satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for SES of Luxembourg in a spectacular nighttime launch.

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