Atlas V rocket launches defense satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base

An unmanned Atlas V rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office blasted from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:19 p.m. Friday and lit the dark, cloudy sky.

Launch of Top Secret CLIO Payload on Atlas V Rocket

An Atlas V in the 401 configuration launched this morning, September 17th 2014 at 00:10 UTC carrying a top secret payload called CLIO. Little is known about this payload or even what agency will manage it, the satellite was constructed by Lockheed Martin. This was the 49th Alas V launch since 2002.

Liftoff of Ariane 5 and largest MEASAT-3b satellite ever built for Malaysian-based Asian operator MEASAT

Flight 218 is the 75th Ariane 5 launch and the fourth in 2014.
For the 61st consecutive time, Ariane 5 has successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, once again confirming the reliability of the European launcher developed and built by prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company. For this launch, the company was also the prime contractor for MEASAT-3b, the largest satellite ever built for Malaysian-based Asian operator MEASAT.

The Ariane 5 ECA (Cryogenic Evolution type A), the most powerful version in the ARIANE 5 range, used for this flight.transported 10,088 kg into geostationary transfer orbit, 9,167 kg of which is made up by the two satellites MEASAT-3b and OPTUS-10 and the rest by Sylda, Airbus Defence and Space’s dual launch system, and by adapter structures for the satellites.

Galileo satellite system deployment phase

China launches HD Earth observation satellite - Gaofen-2

The Gaofen-2 was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 11:15 a.m. Beijing Time. It was boosted by a Long March-4B carrier rocket.

China successfully launched a high-definition Earth observation satellite into orbit on Tuesday, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).

It will be used for geographic and resources surveys, environment and climate change monitoring, precision agriculture, disaster relief and city planning.

China's satellite images in public domain for first time

China launched high-definition Earth observation satellite into orbit - Gaofen-2. Photos shot with High-resolution multi-spectral camera technology.

Images of Lop Nur lake located between the Taklamakan and Kumtag deserts in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Pictured Changji Hutubi Valley

Dongying estuary beach

Launch of WorldView 3 on Atlas V 401 from Vandenberg

WorldView 3 Satellite for Digital Globe launched. Digital Globe is the company behind providing digital maps for Google Earth and other similar products.

Mining Activity in Uşak, Western Turkey captured by Skybox imaging

Intel Community Backs High-Res Imagery Push

The White House is reviewing a proposal to lift the restriction preventing U.S. satellite imagery providers from releasing pictures with a resolution of less than 50 cm (19.7 in.). Adoption of the proposal to allow release of images with 25-cm resolution could kick off an explosion of global competition and products for satellite imagery providers hungry to expand substantially beyond the government market.

DigitalGlobe, the only remaining U.S. high-resolution satellite imagery provider, included the proposal in a licensing request filed last May. The first 50-cm license was provided in 2000. The company’s WorldView-3 satellite, capable of products with 31-cm resolution, is launching in August, and DigitalGlobe is worried its market share is being siphoned off by rival Airbus Defense and Space (formerly EADS Astrium) and others.

The U.S. intelligence community has “reached a consensus [that] bodes well for industry” supporting DigitalGlobe’s licensing request, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at last week’s 10th Annual Geoint conference here. National Reconnaissance Office Director Betty Sapp says she would rather focus her agency, which builds and operates U.S. spy satellites, on the most difficult, high-end challenges. “We want to make sure we are not doing anything they can do,” she says.

This harmony grew out of dissent. The intelligence community once had four different positions among three agencies, according to a government official. The White House is moving swiftly to come to a final government position and issue the license as soon as possible, this official says. However, there is still some discord among agencies outside the intelligence community. One option is to phase in the lower-resolution products, first allowing 31-cm imagery to accommodate WorldView’s capabilities and later 25-cm products.



http://aviationweek.com/space/intel-community-backs-high-res-imagery-push

Ukraine Crisis Scuttles Canadian Satellite Launch on Soyuz

Russia's actions in Ukraine have prompted the Canadian government to forego a planned launch of its M3M satellite atop a Soyuz rocket this summer, Canadian satellite manufacturer COM DEV International announced April 24.The satellite, a small maritime ship-tracking spacecraft, was previously scheduled to launch as a secondary payload on Soyuz from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in June.

"Recognizing the current events in the Ukraine, we had been engaged in discussions with the Government of Canada with respect to a potential delay of the launch of M3M, and plans to mitigate the impact of any delay," said COM DEV CEO Mike Pley. "We are confident that the mitigations will be in place prior to the originally planned M3M in-service date of September 2014."

Built by COM DEV under contract to the Canadian Space Agency/Public Works Government Services Canada and the Department of National Defense, M3M is also subject to a commercial data sharing license with exactEarth, in which COM DEV is majority owner.


http://aviationweek.com/blog/ukraine-crisis-scuttles-canadian-satellite-launch-soyuz

Skybox Imaging HD Video of Burj Khalifa on April 9, 2014

Watch the plane fly at the bottom of the video.

Airbus Defence and Space Pleiades Satellite captures Russian Navy's amphibious landing in Sebastopol

March 13, 2014


Pleiades Satellite Image - LSTM-class Ropucha Yamal 156 in Sevastopol

http://www.astrium-geo.com

In Sevastopol continuing operations strengthening of Russian positions. The images show March 13 launched an amphibious operation, with numerous military vehicles leaving the LSTM (Ropucha class) Yamal 156.

The presence of class Ropucha LSTM is clear evidence of Russian military activity in the area, but since these activities occur in the vicinity of permanent military units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, could be classified "training". Maybe the Yamal has been downloaded a mobile complex coastal defense Bal missile antiship cruise in a video recorded at ground level has been seen moving south to one mile area amphibious landing



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