Russia designs new rocket for manned flights

September 16th, 2009 2nd entrant in lunar landing contest gets halfwayLOS ANGELES — A privately built rocket competing for NASA prize money has been grounded halfway through a simulated lunar landing mission in the Mojave Desert, but developers plan to make another attempt. Masten Space Systems' "Xombie" rocket made a 93-second flight from a launch pad to a landing pad Wednesday before engine damage was discovered and the return flight was canceled.

September 16th, 2009 Rockets vie in simulated lunar landing contestLOS ANGELES — A privately built rocket vying for NASA prize money lifted off in the Mojave Desert and flew half of a simulated lunar lander mission Wednesday before an engine problem forced its developers to call off the attempt until next month. The flight of Masten Space Systems' unmanned "Xombie" at Mojave Air and Space Port comes just days after another competitor, Armadillo Aerospace, qualified for the $1 million top prize with two flights in Texas.

September 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - The construction of a new space centre in Russia's Far East will start in 2011, a government official said Monday. Russia currently uses two launch sites for space carrier rockets and ballistic missiles tests: the Baikonur space centre in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, which it has leased since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Plesetsk space centre in northwest Russia.

September 7th, 2009 KABUL - Three civilians were reportedly killed in a rocket attack on the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday. The rocket hit a house in the western part of the city, killing three members of a family, including a young girl, a BBC report quoted the Kabul police official.

September 2nd, 2009 TRIPOLI - Libyan leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi, has designed a 'rocket car' to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his 1969 coup that brought him to power. The "Libyan Rocket", as the prototype is called, is described as an "elegant sedan" 17 feet long, more than six feet wide, with a 3-liter, V-6 gasoline engine.

August 25th, 2009 SKorea rocket takes off, satellite launch failsSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's first rocket launch failed to push a satellite into orbit but may still anger rival North Korea, coming just months after the communist nation's own launch drew international condemnation. Vice Science Minister Kim Jung-hyun told reporters Wednesday that one of two covers for the satellite apparently failed to come off, making it drop back toward Earth.

August 21st, 2009 MOSCOW - South Korea will launch its first carrier rocket from the country's Naro Space Centre Aug 25, the Yonhap news agency reported Friday. South Korea postponed the launch of KSLV-1 after a technical problem Aug 19.

July 10th, 2009 LONDON - Russian military aircraft violated British airspace without permission 18 times over the last two years, and now Members of Parliament are urging the Gordon Brown Government to take on a "more robust" stance, the Daily Telegraph reports. RAF fighters were scrambled to intercept the Russian Bear bombers.

June 23rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Sleep while you fly - that's the inspiration behind a new range of airplane seats designed by a British designer. Emil Jacob believes while it isn't possible to extend the horizontal space in a plane, going vertical might just do the trick for passengers.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - When Indias first manned mission to space takes off, possibly in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board. Let me promise you one thing, if there is a (Indian) man on moon (read space), it will be from the Indian Air Force, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told reporters here.

May 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Saturday launched a rocket carrying a US communication satellite into space from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, Russian space agency Roscosmos said. 'The launch of the Proton-M rocket fitted with a Breeze-M booster and carrying a ProtoStar-2 telecommunication satellite went ahead at the scheduled time,' a spokesperson of the Roscosmos said.

May 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Saturday launched a rocket carrying a US communication satellite into space, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The Briz-m rocket, with a ProtoStar-2 satellite atop, blasted off at 0057 GMT from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, spokesman Alexander Bobrenev of the Khrunichev Centre, the manufacturer of the rocket, said.

May 14th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian space agency Roscosmos and the US space agency NASA have agreed on a new price for ferrying US astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) after 2012, an official said. NASA will now pay $51 million for a single seat on Soyuz spacecraft.

April 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia has ended its decade-long counter-terrorism operations against separatist rebels in Chechnya, officials said Thursday. Some 20,000 Russian troops deployed in Chechnya will be withdrawn.

March 1st, 2009 MOSCOW - A Russian Meridian 2 military satellite was put into orbit Friday by a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket launched from Plesetsk space centre in north of the country, an aide to the Russian Space Forces commander said. The Meridian-series communication satellites are designed to replace the older Molniya-series spacecraft and in addition to their military uses provide communication, navigation and surveillance services for civilian customers.