Satellites: January 2008 Archives

January 2007 saw the Chinese shoot down one of their own satellites at an altitude of about 800km (496miles) resulting in an international outcry and a lot of debris

We hear that the Russians and the Americans both tested ASAT missiles in the 1980s but knocked out satellites at much lower altitudes avoiding the space debris problem China has now given the world

So have the Great Powers, in their inifinite wisdom, abandoned ASAT technology? No, silly!

In my humble opinion this US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency programme called Spacecraft for the Universal Modification of Orbits (SUMO) is exactly that

As if the name is not enough, its website blurb says, "SUMO can remove and install Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) and replenish propellant and pressurant. For spacecraft with compatible interfaces, SUMO can perform station-keeping and attitude control and modify the spacecraft's orbit [emphasis added]."

But somehow I can imagine that this SUMO spacecraft could "modify" an orbit even if the target satellite does not have a "compatible interface"

Here you can watch a video of it doing its thing

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has announced that it has carried out observations using two of Kaguya lunar orbiter's onboard sensors, the laser altimeter and sounder mode of the lunar radar sounder

However JAXA has not been so lucky with an Earth observation satellite

While in Russia Khrunichev Space Center prepares one of its Proton rockets for a satellite launch

As Proton user, International Launch Services, celebrates its first year separate from Lockheed Martin Eutelsat places an oder for a new spacecraft from EADS Astrium

And, care of Hobbyspace.com, Popular Mechanics has this article about an allegedly radical new solar energy technology. Reading it I am highly dubious it works. I agree with some of the comments below the article. Hydrogen is not an easy element to work with. It has to be cryogenically stored for many applications, and I would imagine for a heat transfer device like the one described, that is also necessary. Many materials are very porous where hydrogen is concerned so the idea of using such a gas in a "closed system" sounds bogus

Aviation Week is reporting Chang'e-1 is going to get very cold and without sunlight for a long 5.5h soon, suggesting the Chinese might not see much more of their lunar explorer

While the South Koreans have apparently already lost contact with their first satellite

But for the Israeli's there is hope that their synthetic aperture radar satellite will be flying soon

According to this the Russians are aiming for 13, unlucky for some, satellite launches in 2008

And finally, here is a report about Sea Launch's next launch, which the company's website confirms is its resumption of operations since the disastrous on-pad Yuzhnoye Zenit-3SL explosion it suffered back in January last year