China to launch 15 to 16 satellites in 2009: Official

May 12th, 2009 TORONTO - Scientists have warned that outer space is becoming too crowded with satellites and the debris of dead satellites to pose dangers to mankind. The new extraterrestrial threat in the form of space junk hitting earth could be deadly, according to the first International Interdisciplinary Congress on Space Debris held at Montreal's McGill University at the weekend.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday attacked the Manmohan Singh government for 'forging a deep security and military collaboration with Israel' and raised questions about the launching of Israeli spy satellites by India. The CPI-M, which fiercely opposed the India-US nuclear deal, accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of 'obfuscating' facts about the launch of Israeli satellites and alleged this collaboration was part of the 'overall India-Israel-US axis'.

April 21st, 2009 BEIJING - China has disavowed any kind of cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in nuclear energy development, and urged a peaceful solution to the DPRK nuclear disputes. "China has never had any cooperation with the DPRK in nuclear energy development," the Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Yiren, the head of the China's Atomic Energy Authority, as telling reporters at a nuclear energy conference in Beijing on Monday.

April 20th, 2009 CHENNAI - Out of the 15 satellite launch missions it has flown since 1993, Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has delivered successful results except for once. The failure happened on its first developmental flight Sep 20, 1993.

April 20th, 2009 SRIHARIKOTA - India's all-weather defence surveillance satellite - radar imaging satellite (RISAT-2) - and the micro education satellite Anusat were successfully placed in orbit by an Indian rocket that flew from the spaceport here early Monday morning. At 6.45 a.m., the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) soared up in the sky, defying gravity with a deep throated growl, with 340 kg of luggage - 300-kg RISAT and 40-kg Anusat.

April 20th, 2009 SRIHARIKOTA - India's defence surveillance capabilities received a quantum boost Monday with the launch of an all-weather day-night spy satellite that has the capability to look through clouds and fog. The launch of the radar imaging satellite RISAT-2, equipped with a sophisticated Israeli-built synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was hastened in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, ahead of RISAT-1 that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is still building.

April 19th, 2009 CHENNAI - The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket will early Monday put into orbit the country's first all-weather spy and educational satellites. The 229-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C12 (PSLV) will blast off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, 80 km north of here, at 6.45 a.m.

April 16th, 2009 CHENNAI - India's defence surveillance capabilities will get a quantum boost Monday with the launch of a sophisticated spy satellite that can see through fog and clouds, a facility that has been hitherto unavailable. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) workhorse polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) that will soar aloft from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, 80 km from here, with the radar imaging satellite (RISAT), will also put into orbit the Anusat, a micro educational satellite built by Anna University.

April 15th, 2009 BEIJING - China successfully launched its second navigation satellite Wednesday. The carrier rocket, Long March 3C, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

March 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - North Korea is loading a Taepodong rocket onto a launch pad ahead of what Pyongyang says is a plan to place a satellite into space, a US official confirmed Wednesday. 'It is out there,' the counter-proliferation official said.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - When India's first manned space mission takes off, likely in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board. The IAF is to train two of its personnel for the mission, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said a senior IAF official.

February 11th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran would send its first man into space on board its own spacecraft by 2021, the head of Iran's Aerospace Agency announced Thursday. 'Scientific research has already begun in Iran,' Reza Tagipur was quoted by Iranian media as saying.

February 7th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran plans to send satellites in medium and high Earth orbits in two or three years, Iran's ISNA news agency reported quoting a senior official. On Feb 3, the country launched Omid light satellite in low Earth orbit, using the Safir 2 (messenger) rocket.

February 5th, 2009 TAIPEI - Taiwan plans to launch regular flights to China in the first half of 2009, an official said Friday. Lee Wen-lung, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), told Broadcasting Corp of China that 'authorities' have instructed CAA to achieve normalization of air flights across the Taiwan Strait before summer.

January 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran plans to put its first domestically made communication satellite into orbit by March 20, the head of the Iranian space agency has said. 'If we do not run into problems, the first domestic satellite will be put in orbit by the end of this (Iranian solar calendar) year,' Reza Taqipour said.