Infrastructure
2008 – Orbital Launch Reports and Forecasts
From the launch of the Sputnik satellite on October 4, 1957, through the end of 2008, approximately ## orbital launches have occurred. These missions carried some ten thousand satellites, experiments, probes, landers, and other spacecraft on trajectories ranging from Earth orbit to missions beyond our solar system.
2008 – Other Countries, Launch, Human
In 2006, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced plans to develop a human-rated version of its proposed GSLV Mark 3 vehicle. The vehicle, whose maiden launch is proposed for 2015, would be capable of carrying a crew capsule to LEO. Additionally, in January 2007, ISRO successfully launched and retrieved the Space Recovery Experiment, the nation’s first recoverable spacecraft, demonstrating the reentry and recovery technologies required for a future human-rated spacecraft.
2008 – China Launch, Human
In 2003, China became the third nation to achieve orbital human spaceflight. The Long March 2F vehicle and its Shenzhou capsule are similar in design and function to the Soyuz rocket and capsule configuration. In October 2008, China launched Shenzhou 7, whose three-person crew performed the first Chinese extra vehicular activity, or spacewalk. In 2006, the Chinese government updated its China’s Space Activities white paper, which lists potential activities of follow-on Shenzhou missions. These include testing docking procedures, with the eventual objective of creating a space station.
2008 – Russia Launch, Human
Russia’s Soyuz is the most frequently launched human-rated vehicle. The Soyuz typically performs five to six missions per year at regular intervals to ferry crew and cargo to the ISS. In the period between retirement of the Space Shuttle and introduction of a new U.S. human-rated launch system, the Soyuz is expected to be the only vehicle able to transport crew members to the space station. Since 2001, the Soyuz has also been used six times to transport private spaceflight participants to and from the ISS under a partnership with the space exploration company, Space Adventures.
2008 – U.S. Launch, Human
NASA plans to retire the Space Shuttle in 2010, though the agency has considered extending the vehicle’s life to support continued operation of the ISS. ## shuttle missions took place in 2008, all devoted to ISS assembly.
2008 – MSS Satellite Design Activities – Snapshot
A new MSS venture was announced in September 2008. With the backing of $60 million from Google, HSBC, and Liberty Global, the “Other 3 Billion” (O3b) network was introduced. The O3b network targets the three billion consumers living in less developed countries mainly along the equator who do not hav… Thank you for visiting The…
2008 – Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) Space Activities – Snapshot
While FSS systems all operate in GEO, mobile satellite service (MSS) systems operate in a range of orbits. Some MSS operators have built their networks using a limited number of GEO satellites. In August 2008, the oldest and largest of these, Inmarsat, launched its ## Inmarsat-4 satellite, establishing global availability of its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service, and bringing the fleet total to ## spacecraft. Another GEO MSS operator, ICO Global, launched its G-1 satellite in April 2008 to provide voice, data, video, and Internet service throughout the United States on mobile and portable devices.
2008 – Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Satellite Design Activities – Snapshot
Since 2004, the FSS sector has experienced steady increases in the utilization of its satellites, in some regions verging on exhaustion of currently available capacity. The major FSS players report utilization numbers exceeding 90% of available capacity in certain regions such as North America, the … Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative…
2008 – Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Space Activities – Snapshot
GEO satellites provide coverage of a wide area from a relatively fixed position, making them ideal for broadcast applications to multiple downlink sites, as well as for networking services to widely dispersed corporate and government facilities. Video distribution, point-to-point video feeds, also known as “backhauls,” and Direct-To-Home (DTH) television services represented three-quarters of total satellite services revenues in 2007.
2008 – Russian Spaceports – Snapshot
Founded in 1955 by the Soviet Union, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is the world’s oldest and largest spaceport. It supports several generations of Russian spacecraft: Soyuz, Molniya, Proton, Tsyklon, Dnepr, and the Zenit. Baikonur’s storied history dates back to the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, the event that set in motion the Cold War “space race.”