The international joint venture Land Launch is preparing for its second flight to launch the Space Systems/Loral built Telstar-11N telecommunications satellite in December following its 28 April maiden mission to send an Israeli spacecraft into orbit, says the Russian Federal Space Agency.
A Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Zenit 3SLB will be launched from Russia`s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the payload. The rocket is capable of putting 3,600kg (7,920lb) into geostationary transfer orbit.
Land Launch`s joint venture`s members include Norway`s Aker, Russia`s Energia, Boeing and Ukraine`s Yuznoye. These companies have been working together for Sea launch. It is through Sea Launch that Land Launch`s services are marketed.
Thales Alenia Space says its Spanish subsidiary Thales Alenia Space España will supply the X-band communication subsystems and S-band transponders for the first three Sentinel satellites in the joint European Union, European Space Agency`s Earth observation programme, Kopernikus, formerly Global Monitoring for Environment and Security.
Boeing and its satellite manufacturing arm could face penalties of over $700 million say ICO Global Communications` legal representatives. A Los Angeles superior court awarded ICO damages because, say its lawyers, Boeing was guilty of "wrongful conduct in charging the communications company exorbitant sums to complete a fleet of satellites and concealing and misrepresenting information regarding launch vehicles for the satellites". Boeing has appealed against the court decision.
