India gearing up for Mars mission in 2013

India gearing up for Mars mission in 2013

India has completed a significant amount of work on next year's planned Mars mission for which scientific payloads have been short-listed, with formal government approval for the ambitious venture expected soon.

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO is planning to undertake the mission to the Red Planet during November 2013. The project report for Indian Mars orbiter mission has been submitted for approval of the Government.

The mission envisages launching an orbiter around Mars using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The orbiter will be placed in an orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around Mars and will have a provision for carrying nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.

"The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet," according to an official ISRO report.

Scientific payloads have been shortlisted by ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress, the space agency said in its just uploaded 2011-12 annual report.

Meanwhile, ISRO has signed a MoU with Indian Institute of Astrophysics for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload for its ADITYA-1 project, while mechanical configuration of the satellite is in progress.

This project will be the first Indian space-based solar coronagraph, which will be available for solar coronal observation to all the Indian researchers in the field of Solar Astronomy. 

ADITYA-1 is the first space-based Solar Coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the Sun, called corona.

ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) such as the coronal magnetic field structures and evolution of coronal magnetic field and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather.

The major scientific objective of the ADITYA-1 is to achieve a fundamental understanding of the physical processes that heat the solar corona (base to the extended), accelerate the solar wind and produce CMEs.

ISRO said preliminary design of the optical systems of ADITYA-1 has been finalised and design document generated.

"Trade-off studies on the selection of detector system have been completed and the list of subsystem packages along with power and mass budget generated," it said.

ISRO has also planned 'SENSE' - a twin satellite mission to probe the electromagnetic environment of the Earth's near space region. It is proposed to launch two small satellites in a low Earth orbit of around 500 km, for space weather related studies.

SENSE is part of ISRO's 'Small Satellites Programme', recommended by ISRO's ADCOS. SENSE aims to unravel the roles played by major large-scale drivers in determining the state of the Ionosphere-Thermosphere system and the weather of the near space environment at low latitudes.

ISRO said engineering models of the electric and magnetic field probes chosen for the SENSE mission have already been tested and their frequency responses studied.

Solar storm impinges on Earth and damages Venus Express

Solar storm impinges on Earth and damages Venus Express

Following an X class flare on 5 March, two more powerful X-class solar flare events were imaged on 6 and 7 March by the European Space Agency’s SOHO spacecraft and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The resulting Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) sent out millions of charged particles in a plasma cloud at a velocity of 2,300km per hour. As a result the Venus Express spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) which is currently in orbit around the planet Venus suffered a temporary “blinding” of its star tracker sensors at 0141GMT on 7 March and these have now been taken out of service. To maintain the spacecraft’s orientation, Venus Express is currently using gyroscopes without reference to star locations.

Boeing gets four-sat order for 'small platform' bus as Falcon 9 gets launches

Boeing gets four-sat order for 'small platform' bus as Falcon 9 gets launches

Boeing has announced orders for a total of  four communications satellites using its new Boeing 702SP "small platform" bus design for geosynchronous Earth orbit. The orders are from the Asian commercial satellite operator Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and for the Mexican satellite operator, Satelites Mexicanos (Satmex).   

The first two satellites of the four are named as ABS-3A and Satmex 7. It has been announced that the pair will fly together on a single Falcon 9 launch provided by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Spacex). The launch is likely to take place in late 2014 or early 2015.   Satmex 7 is to provide C-band and Ku-band communications services for Latin America while ABS-3A will provide the same for the Atlantic Ocean region. Details of the second pair of satellites have not been revealed but will also be launched as a pair on a single Falcon 9 launch vehicle probably in late 2015. 

The news is a filip to Boeing's commercial satellite manufacturing operation which at one time almost withdrew from the market following a series of in-orbit failures due to generic defects on its Boeing 601 and 702 bus design line. This new small platform version of the 702 bus has a power generation capability of 3 to 8 kW and uses electric propulsion for attitude control.

China set to ramp up manned flights programme and space station ambitions

China set to ramp up manned flights programme and space station ambitions

China's spaceflight ambitions look set to gain momentum this year with the launch this summer of the country's fourth manned flight, to test rendezvous and docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.

The Shenzhou-9 mission, scheduled to fly between June and August aboard a Long-March 2F/G rocket, will see three crew members conduct a manual docking before boarding Tiangong-1, living there for an unspecified period and conducting scientific experiments, according to China's government news agency, Xinhua.

The flight will follow the unmanned Shenzhou-8 mission, which last October carried out a rendezvous with Tiangong-1 about a month after the laboratory was orbited. That mission, says Xinhua, established that all relevant systems are in good condition and ready for a manned docking.

The upcoming mission will be closely observed by China watchers, who anticipate a significant push this year to develop the manned programme, which is under military control and has flown three missions - Shenzhou-5, -6 and -7 in 2003, 2005 and 2008, including China's first spacewalk on the 2008 flight.

According to Karl Bergquist, who heads China relations at the European Space Agency, China's 12th five-year plan sets out spaceflight priorities for 2011-2015 as exploitation of the Tiangong-1 laboratory to pave the way for a larger space station, development of a new launcher, Long March 5, establishment of the Beidou satellite navigation system, and a general drive to build a high-resolution satellite data capability.

A national space science centre is being established in Beijing, while a new launch base in Hainan and Long March integration hall in Tainjin are also on the agenda.

Addressing the Royal Aeronautical Society in January, Bergquist added that a robotic exploration programme is rumoured.

Of the LM 5, 6 and 7 programmes little is known, said Bergquist, but the LM 5 is expected to fly in 2014. LM 6 looks like being comparable to Europe's new Vega launcher, with a focus on putting satellites in Sun-synchronous orbits of 700km; the customer is thought to be China's military. And, LM 7 is thought to be pointing toward 5.5t payloads to 700km orbits. Current Long March capability is to put about 14t in Low Earth orbit.

China's programme is sophisticated - an automated docking was achieved in 2011 and plans for Long March variants combined with the Shenzhou capsules point to a flexible launch system - and Bergquist noted that China has strong political ambitions in space, is setting up the infrastructure to pursue them and has 150,000 people involved.

However, Bergquist thinks China's push to become a leading space player hinges on continued economic growth; and the organisational structure of China's space programme could work against it. Some parts of the programme are controlled by civil authorities and others, such as manned spaceflight, by the military. Bergquist added it is not always clear that the two are willing, or able, to co-operate.

SpaceX readies upgraded engines

SpaceX readies upgraded engines

SpaceX is on track to fly the first upgraded Falcon 9 in early 2013. The upgraded Falcon 9 launch vehicle will include a number of new features, chief among them being the nine Merlin 1D first stage engines.

The Merlin 1D will offer up to 155,000lb (689kN) of thrust, an upgrade over the 140,000lb predecessor, the Merlin 1C. The uprated thrust will allow Falcon to carry larger payloads into higher orbits.

"We'll be flying that first upgraded Falcon from the launch site at Vandenberg. We'll have hardware there by December. I don't want to predict a launch date, [but] shortly thereafter," says SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell.

The flight will see the 800lb weather research and communications satellite, launched into a highly elliptical low Earth orbit (LEO) for the Canadian Space Agency.

The increased-performance Merlin 1D engines will permit Falcon to put significant payloads in geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), allowing SpaceX to compete with more established large rockets. The first GTO launch is scheduled in early 2013.

"We have to finish building the (fuel and oxidizer) tanks, qualify them, [and] build the flight tanks. Same with the engine and the fairing."

SpaceX is in the midst of a variety of ambitious engine programmes, including the Merlin 2, a significant modification of the Merlin 1 series, and the Raptor upper stage engine. Details of both projects are tightly held.

In the meantime, SpaceX has reserved a 30 April launch date to fly its Dragon cargo capsule the International Space Station (ISS), which will be the first commercial craft to dock with the ISS. Due to the space station's orbit, the launch window opens only for a short period once every three days.

"We may have to have a couple of attempts, but we're certainly looking forward to getting that next flight off," says Shotwell.

European cargo craft heads to International Space Station

European cargo craft heads to International Space Station

Europe on Friday successfully launched its third automated transfer vehicle, ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi, on a supply and servicing mission to the International Space Station (ISS). 

An Ariane 5 rocket, carrying the 20-tonne spacecraft, made a night-time lift off from the European spaceport in French Guiana at 04:34 GMT, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. 

The flight will deploy the ATV into a 260-kilometer orbit, positioning the payload for its docking with the space station. 

Friday's launch was the heaviest payload ever to be orbited by the Ariane 5 rocket, Arianespace said.

The ATV-3 is carrying over 7 tonnes of fuel, water, oxygen, air and dry cargo for the six-member space station crew, according to NASA. 

The spaceship is set for an automated docking with Russia's Zvezda module in the orbital outpost at 2234 GMT on March 28.

In addition to serving as a resupply spacecraft, the ATV-3 will also function as a "tug" while docked to the crewed orbital facility for up to six months. 

Europe has been supporting space supply missions along with Russia's Progress spacecraft and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicles. 

The ATVs are contributing to the support and maintenance of the ISS by supplying cargo since 2008 when the first ATV, Jules Verne, was launched on March 9. The second spacecraft of the series, Johannes Kepler, went on its mission in February, 2011.

ESA plans to build at least five ATVs and launch each every year.

The next ATV, designated Albert Einstein, is scheduled to be launched in early 2013. 

Sun erupts again, triggers most powerful solar flare

Sun erupts again, triggers most powerful solar flare

Days after it unleashed a strong solar storm that hit the Earth, causing satellite interruption and producing brilliant northern lights, the Sun on Friday erupted again, this time triggering another massive flare.

According to NASA, the Sun unleashed an X1.8 class flare that began at 1:12 pm EST (1812 GMT) on Friday and peaked at 1:37 (1837 GMT). 

The solar eruption from sun spot region 1402 was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory. 

The spacecraft had spotted another massive flare in the same region on January 22.

Friday's flare immediately caused a strong radio blackout at low-latitudes, which was rated an R3 on NOAA's scale from R1-5. The blackout soon subsided to a minor R1 storm. 

The solar explosion resulted in coronal mass ejection (CME) and models from NASA's Goddard Space Weather Center predict that the CME is traveling at over 1500 miles per second, the space agency said. 

It does not initially appear to be Earth-directed, but Earth may get a glancing blow, it added.

The X-class solar flares are rated to be the most powerful solar eruptions followed by M-class and C-class solar flares.

The most powerful solar flare measured with modern methods was in 2003, during the last solar maximum. The flare was so powerful that it overloaded the sensors measuring it. 

As the number of solar flare increases every 11 years when the Sun moves to solar maximum phase, more such phenomenon may occur by 2013, according to NASA.

NASA's Kepler mission finds 26 new planets

NASA's Kepler mission finds 26 new planets

 NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 26 new planets outside our solar system, US space agency said on Thursday.

According to NASA, the new planets which are spread among 11 planetary systems are nearly double the number of verified Kepler planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, its host star. 

The planets orbit close to their host stars and range in size from 1.5 times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter. Fifteen of them are between Earth and Neptune in size, and further observations will be required to determine which are rocky like Earth and which have thick gaseous atmospheres like Neptune.

"Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky," Doug Hudgins, Kepler programme scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said.

"Now, in just two years staring at a patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This tells us that our galaxy is positively loaded with planets of all sizes and orbits." 

Each of the new confirmed planetary systems contains two to five closely spaced transiting planets. In tightly packed planetary systems, the gravitational pull of the planets among themselves causes one planet to accelerate and another planet to decelerate along its orbit. Kepler detects this effect by measuring the changes, or so-called Transit Timing Variations (TTVs).

The system with the most planets among these discoveries is Kepler-33, a star that is older and more massive than our sun. Kepler-33 hosts five planets, ranging in size from 1.5 to 5 times that of Earth and all located closer to their star than any planet is to the sun.

Kepler is monitoring more than 150,000 stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra.

China, India come together for world's largest telescope

China, India come together for world's largest telescope

China and India have catapulted to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in building a Hawaii telescope, which will be the world's largest.

China and India will pay a share of the construction cost, expected to top USD 1 billion, for the telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time.

"This will represent a quantum leap for the Chinese community," Shude Mao, professor of astrophysics at National Astronomical Observatories of China, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday from Waikoloa on the Big Island, where he was attending a meeting of the telescope's scientific advisory committee.

The Thirty Meter Telescope's segmented primary mirror, which will be nearly 100 feet or 30 meters long, will give it nine times the light-collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today. Its images will also be three times sharper.

G C Anupama, professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, said the largest telescope in India has a 2-meter (6.5-feet) mirror, though India is currently building one that will be 4 meters (13 feet).

"So it's a huge jump for us from 4-meter to 30-meter," Anupama said in a telephone interview on the sidelines of the advisory committee's meeting. "It definitely will take Indian astronomy to greater heights." 

The telescope, known as TMT, will be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the Sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.

The University of California system, the California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy founded the telescope, which is expected to be finished by 2018.

China joined as an observer in 2009, followed by India the next year. Both are now partners, with representatives on the TMT board. Japan, which has its own large telescope at Mauna Kea, the 8.3-meter Subaru, is also a partner.

TMT may not hold the title of world's largest for long, however, as a partnership of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which would have a 42-meter, or 138-foot, mirror.

Russian satellite fails to reach planned orbit, crashes in Siberia

Russian satellite fails to reach planned orbit, crashes in Siberia

 A Russian satellite Friday crashed into Siberia minutes after its launch due to rocket failure, the defence ministry said.

The failure of the Soyuz-2.1B rocket -- a member of the same family that Russia uses to send humans to space -- comes after a supply ship bound for the International Space Station (ISS) carried by a Soyuz crashed into Siberia in August.

"The satellite failed to go into its orbit. A state commission will investigate the causes of the accident," the spokesman of Russia's space forces Alexei Zolotukhin told the Interfax news agency.

He said the problem occurred around seven minutes after the launch of the Meridian communications satellite on the Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia due to a third stage rocket failure.

Russian news agencies, quoting defence sources, said that the satellite had crashed into the central Siberian region of Novosibirsk and its remains had already been found on the ground.

Workers from the Russian emergencies ministry as well as the police were on their way to the scene which had been cordoned off, Interfax said, but there were no reports of casualties or damage to property.

It was the fifth launch of a satellite from the Meridian series which have dual civilian and military use and are aimed at providing communications for ships in the Arctic as well as Russia's remote Siberia and Far East regions.

The Soyuz-2.1B rocket is part of the family of Soyuz rockets that has been the backbone of Moscow's space programme for decades and are used to launch humans for the International Space Station.

The satellite was supposed to have separated from the rocket about nine minutes after its launch, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

But the carrier rocket experienced undisclosed problems even before the separation attempt, meaning that it never reached the low Earth orbit, an unnamed source told the news agency.

The loss of the Meridian satellite caps a disastrous 12 months for Russia that has already seen it lose three navigation satellites, an advanced military satellite, a telecommunications satellite, a probe for Mars as well as the Progress.

The unmanned Progress supply ship that crashed into Siberia in August was launched by a Soyuz and that failure forced the temporary grounding of the rockets and well as a wholesale re-jig of the station's staffing of the ISS.

Following the retirement of the US shuttle in July, Russia is currently the only nation capable of transporting humans to the space station.

China launches satellite for Nigeria

China launches satellite for Nigeria

China has successfully launched a communicant satellite for Nigeria and is bracing up to set in orbit five commercial satellites next year for Venezuela, Bolivia, Belarus and Turkmenistan.

China launched the communications satellite for Nigeria on Tuesday to replace a defunct satellite that was developed by China's space industry but failed in orbit in 2008, official media here reported.

Nigerian Communication Satellite-1R was put into orbit by a Long March 3B launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

It is the fourth communications satellite delivered in orbit by China's space industry for international customers.

This included the satellite launched for Pakistan this year.

Yesterday's satellite will replace Nigerian Communication Satellite-1, which failed in orbit due to the malfunction of a solar array deployment assembly in November 2008, some 18 months after it was launched.

The satellite had been designed to work for at least 15 years, state-run 'China Daily' reported Wednesday.

So far, China has conducted 33 commercial launches for international customers, putting 39 satellites into orbit, it said.

Also China is set to make five commercial launches for foreign customers next year, to realising the goal of re-launching itself in the global aerospace industry, a senior industry official said.

The five launches are a piggy-back launch of two Luxembourg micro-satellites for sea monitoring in January, launches of two communications satellites for Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Co Ltd, and launches of two remote sensing satellites, Yin Liming, president of China Great Wall Industry Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told the Daily.

As there are usually 20 to 30 commercial launches in the world each year, most carried out by Russia and European countries, the five launches next year mean that China can take at least a 15-percent share of this market next year, Yin said on the eve of the third and last commercial launch in 2011 of the China-developed communications satellite for Nigeria.

The other two launches in 2011 were the launch of a China-developed communications satellite for Pakistan in August, and the launch of a communications satellite built by France-based Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat Communication, a leading European satellite operator, in October.

"With this momentum, we are confident of achieving the goal we set for the 2011-2015 period, which is to take a 15-percent share of the commercial launch market and a 10-percent share of the satellite export market by 2015," he said.

Next year also features the first export of a remote sensing satellite

China-made remote sensing satellite will be launched for Venezuela, according to a contract signed this year.

In addition, the China Great Wall Industry Corporation, also inked contracts in the past 12 months on in-orbit delivery of a Bolivia communications satellite and a Belarus communications satellite, launch service for a Turkmenistan communications satellite and the piggy-back launch of the Luxembourg micro-satellites.

Through its contract with Belarus, China also achieved a breakthrough in serving European countries with a communications satellite for the first time, he added.

China to launch 25 satellites in 2011

China to launch 25 satellites in 2011

China has set up a target of launching 20 rockets and 25 satellites into space by the end of this year, making it the second country after Russia to accomplish that many launches in a year.

"This year, we are supposed to launch 20 rockets and 25 satellites, a number that would put China in second place after Russia," Yuan Jiajun, deputy general manager of China Aerospace and Technology Corp, said asserting that the country's space projects have entered a stage of high-intensity development and launching.

He did not clarify how many satellites and rockets have been launched in the first 10 months of 2011.

China launched 15 rockets to send 20 satellites in to space in 2010, comparable numbers to the US and Russia, historically the world's two most prolific launchers of spacecraft, Yuan said.

"It is an arduous process and a great challenge for us to cope with the high intensity of satellite launching. It requires us to be equipped with sufficient capacity," state-run news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.

At the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest Gobi desert, a total of eight satellites will be launched within the year along with the country's first space lab module, Tiangong-1, which blasted off in September to await docking with the spacecraft Shenzhou-8, ready to take off in early November from the same launch base.

While preparation work for the launch of Shenzhou-8 is in its final stages,
testing on another satellite is going on at the same time at the assembly and testing center, 1.5 km away from the launch pad.

Cui Jijun, director of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, said the high intensity that his team was expected to maintain had "become a normal status of our daily work. The high-intensity launching has become normalized while it was only periodical years ago."

As one of China's three satellite launch bases in use, the Jiuquan site has undertaken the majority of China's launching missions.

"Just like TV sets are assembled in plants around the clock, our daily work of launching satellites is quite normal and it is our duty," Cui said.

To cope with increased demand over the years, equipment has been dramatically upgraded and the numbers of personnel increased, Cui said.

He noted, however, that China's space technologies still lag behind the advanced levels of some countries.

Russia launches space freighter after August disaster

Russia launches space freighter after August disaster

 After a disaster that hit a cargo spaceship launch last August, Russia has successfully launched a freighter spacecraft with almost three-tons of supplies crucial for sustaining the manned missions on the International Space Station (ISS).

A Progress M-13M spaceship carrying nearly three tons of cargo for the ISS successfully blasted off from Baikonur at 15.41 IST on Sunday, ITAR-TASS reported quoting space officials present at the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft will dock with the space station on Wednesday.

The outcome of the mission will determine the future of manned operations at the ISS, local experts say.

It is the first launch of a Progress series cargo ship since a crash on August 24, first in over three decades of the regular launches.

The probe revealed that the launch vehicle's third-stage engine shut down prematurely, later it was discovered that the problem was caused by a low fuel feed, and all engines currently in stock were returned back to the manufacturer for inspection.

This spacecraft has brand new engines, which were manufactured according to stricter quality standards.

The Progress M-13M spacecraft is packed with 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies, including crucial stocks of oxygen and water.

It is also carrying a substantial load of maintenance gear, spare parts and a mini satellite Chibis-M, to study lightning and thunderstorms in the Earth's atmosphere, Russia's Federal Roscosmos space agency said.

The launch is critical because it will pave the way for manned launches as Progress spacecraft are launched with rocket also used for manned mission to deliver replacement crew for the ISS.

The suspended mission comprising of NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov are now expected to begin their space watch on November 13.

However, final clearance will be issued only after Progress cargo ship successfully reaches the station.

The current crew of the ISS will return to Earth on November 22, and if no replacement is delivered by that date, for the first time since 2000, the station will go into unmanned operation, Russia Today TV said.

China to launch manned space mission next year

China to launch manned space mission next year

 Bracing up to launch a major space module Tuesday to experiment with first docking system of its space station to catch up with US and Russia, China Monday said it would launch its second manned space mission next year.

China is going to conduct another manned space mission by 2012, Wu Ping, spokesperson of the China manned space programme told media at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre located in Gobi desert.

China plans to launch in 2012 spaceships Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, which are expected to dock with China's first space lab module, Tiangong-1, (Heavenly Palace) launched last month.

She said Shenzhou-8, the unmanned test module would launched early morning Tuesday to dock with Tiangong-1.

"At least one mission of the two (Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10) will be manned," Wu said.

The crew members have already been selected for the possible space docking mission in 2012 and are being trained for manual docking skills, Wu said.

Before the manned flight, China has to test the knowhow on space docking by launching the unmanned Shenzhou-8 Tuesday and connecting it with the target orbiter Tiangong-1.

She said the maneuver to connect the two modules could be risky and fraught with dangers.

"It is fairly difficult and risky to link up two vehicles travelling at high speeds in orbit, with a margin of  error of no more than 20 centimetres," Wu said.

There were incidents of collisions between space vehicles in the early days of docking attempts, and recent docking missions involving the International Space Station did not always run smoothly, Wu said.

Nearly 100 contingency plans have been prepared and exercised to address problems that may occur during the mission, Wu said, adding that all people involved in the mission are confident about a successful docking.

"Although the Shenzhou-8 is unmanned, we equip the spacecraft with devices recording real images and mechanical parameters during its flight, both of which are vital to future manned missions," Wu said.

Significantly the Chinese and German space scientists will conduct different experiments on Shenzhou-8.

"Chinese and German scientists will conduct 17 research programmes aboard the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft," Wu said.

"Among the research programmes, 10 will be dominated by China and six by Germany and the two sides will jointly carry out one programme.

"It is the first time for China's manned space programme to carry out international cooperation in the field of space life science," Wu said.

She said the experiments are of great significance in promoting the study and development of micro gravity science and space life science.

China which began experimental rocket launches since 1960, launched its first satellite in 1970 followed up with first manned mission in 2003, when Shenzhou-5 module carried Yang Liwei, then 38, on board and returned after 21 hours and 14 trips around the Earth.

On September 25, 2008, China used a Long March-2F rocket to lift the spacecraft Shenzhou-7 into space from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Zhai Zhigang successfully completed China's first-eve space walk.

China became the third country in the world to conduct extravehicular activity in space, following the Soviet Union and US.

Last year a Long March-3C carried Chang'e-2 the country's second lunar probe, into space sending for the first time the satellite directly into lunar transfer orbit.

Last month China launched its first space lab module Tiangong-1, which aims to test the first space docking with Shenzhou-8, paving the way for China to operate a permanent space station around 2020, making it the third country after US and Russia to develop space rendezvous technology.

The space station will be considerably smaller than the current 450-ton International Space Station Mir being jointly managed by US and Russia.

It will last for around a decade and support three astronauts working on micro gravity science, space radiation biology and astronomy.

Though very successful in the recent years, China's space programme suffered a setback last month when its Long March rocket failed to put a satellite in a designated orbit but it was subsequently rectified.

This is the first time the Long March II-C rocket, regarded as the trusted war horse of Chinese space programme has failed after 35 successful launches.

It is second time that China failed to put its satellite in proper orbit since 1996 after it developed its space applications modeled on the Russian technology.

China has expanded its space programme at a rapid pace in the recent months.

This year alone it plans to launch 25 satellites and had also launched a communication satellite for its close ally Pakistan.

Russia set to resume space flight missions with Progress launch

Russia set to resume space flight missions with Progress launch

After a gap of over two months, Russia will resume space flight missions to the International Space Station with the launch of a Progress unmanned spacecraft on Sunday.

The Progress M-13M cargo spacecraft and the Soyuz-U carrier rocket arrived at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, Russian space agency Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz rocket is scheduled to launch the cargo ship carrying 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the ISS crew at 6:11 am (1011 GMT) on Sunday.

Russia had suspended all Soyuz flights after a Soyuz-U vehicle carrying the unmanned Progress M-12M spaceship to the International Space Station had failed to reach orbit on August 24.

Russia also deferred the next manned space flight mission scheduled for September 22, thereby leaving the three-member crew aboard the space station for an extended period of time.

If Sunday's Progress freighter mission is successful, Russia will launch a manned space capsule on board the Soyuz rocket to the orbital station on November 12 as announced earlier.

Following the end of US space shuttle programme in July, the Russian Soyuz vehicles remain the sole means to ferry astronauts and cargo to the orbital station.

Meanwhile, the Progress M-10M spacecraft, which will make room for the new Progress freighter, is set to undock from the ISS at 5:04 am (0904 GMT).

Expedition 29 crew members closed the hatch between the Pirs docking compartment and the Progress on Friday and conducted leak checks, NASA said.

The unmanned spaceship, loaded with trash, will flow away from the ISS and make a destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

First Soyuz launch from French Guiana

First Soyuz launch from French Guiana

The first two Galileo navigation satellites have successfully taken orbit after the 21 October launch. The satellites, launched from Kourou in French Guiana by a Russian Soyuz rocket, are vanguards of a planned 30-strong constellation, meant to lessen European dependence on GPS.

The 21 October launch marks the first Soyuz launch from Kourou.

Kourou is the launch site of the heavier Ariane V rocket. Launching Soyuz from Kourou allows European agencies to launch payloads too sensitive to send to Kazakhstan and too light to require Ariane V performance. The site's placement is closer to the equator than Baikonur in Kazakhstan, allowing Soyuz to lift heavier loads by taking advantage of the Earth's rotation.

Fourteen Soyuz launches are booked from Kourou, according to Arianespace, which markets Soyuz to Europe. Payloads include sensitive military satellites.

Soyuz has made more than 1,700 launches from only two sites: Baikonur in Kazakhstan, and Plesetsk in Russia. The next Soyuz launch from Kourou is scheduled for December.

The Ariane V and Soyuz will soon be joined by Vega, a new European rocket built for light payloads. The first Vega launch is tentatively scheduled for early 2012.

Doomed satellite hits Earth, no report yet where it fell

Doomed satellite hits Earth, no report yet where it fell

A bus-sized defunct German satellite Sunday plunged to Earth after languishing in a dead orbit for more than a decade, but space officials have no idea yet about where it fell.

According to the German Aerospace Centre, the 2.7-tonne Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, slammed into Earth's atmosphere sometime between 01:45 GMT (6:15 IST) and 02:15 GMT (6:45 IST) on Sunday, but scientists are yet to confirm where exactly the doomed satellite fell on Earth.

"There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris have reached Earth's surface," German aerospace officials were quoted as saying by Space.com.

Scientists were no longer able to communicate with the dead satellite and it must have travelled some 20,000km in the final 30 minutes before entering the atmosphere, they said.

While the 21-year-old satellite broke apart as it entered Earth's atmosphere, the officials said that up to 30 pieces weighing 1.9 tonnes, consisting some of its heat-resistant mirrors and ceramic parts, could have survived the fiery trip and reached the surface of the planet.

Based on ROSAT's orbital path, these fragments could be scattered along a swath of the planet about 80 km wide, the officials have said.

The satellite, which weighs 2,426 kg, was launched into orbit in 1990 to study X-ray radiation from stars, comets, supernovas, nebulas and black holes, among other things.

It was originally designed for an 18-month mission, but it far outlived its projected lifespan. In 1998, its star tracker failed, forcing its X-ray sensors to pointed directly at the sun. This caused irreparable damage to the satellite, and it was officially decommissioned in February 1999.

ROSAT was the second satellite to fall uncontrolled from space within a month. On September 24, a 6.5 tonne, NASA climate satellite, called the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), plummeted into the Pacific Ocean.

The event sparked a media frenzy around the world, and some pranksters even seized the opportunity to create hoax videos and images of the satellite's fall.