The US Early Bird commercial remote-sensing satellite will be launched into orbit by a Russian Start 1 rocket from the Svobodny Cosmodrome on 22 October. It will be the second launch from the new base in the country's eastern Amur region. The launch will be for EarthWatch, a joint venture between WorldView and Ball Aerospace, which will initially operate the 3m-resolution Early Bird, to be followed by a 1m-resolution QuickBird spacecraft.
Source: Flight International