Russia launches satellite navigation system

Moscow — Russia launched Saturday, one of the final satellites required to complete a navigation system based on space, that Moscow hopes will challenge the dominance of the United States system GPS (Global Positioning).

Glonass-K satellite, which was launched shortly after the local time 6: 00 a.m., reached the orbit, said Aleksei Reklos, space forces spokesman of the Ministry of defence.

The voice of the space craft into space "has gone according to plan. Constant telemetry communications were established with the craft of space, "he said.

After the embarrassing loss of three satellites last year, two more are planned to be launched in 2011 to complete the project of 2 billion dollars that said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will give Russia "satellite navigation sovereignty."

Moscow is hoping that the GLONASS navigation technology that will create a revolution in the consumer technology in the domestic market, with applications that you plan to use cell phones and cars.

Three Glonass satellites were launched in December last year travelling out progress and crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Moscow that cost about $ 160 million and set the program back a about six months.

Without Russia's Glonass, military fears that is at the mercy of the United States, which it says could freeze or blur your GPS signal in time of crisis — accusations that were widely used during a brief war 2008 between Georgia and Russia.

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NASA to launch latest-Earth observation satellite (AP)

LOS ANGELES – NASA is set to launch its Earth orbiting satellite-latest on a mission of 424 million for analyzing airborne grana spewed from volcanic eruptions, forest fires, chimneys and exhaust.

The satellite is expected to explode glory out before dawn Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Taurus XL rocket. Once upgraded to an altitude of 440 kilometres, will join a fleet of satellites that collected data on climate change for years.

His main task will be to study known as aerosols airborne particles. Less than the diameter of a human hair, these ubiquitous specks can track distances around the world and are largely responsible for the production of Misty sky.

Scientists know little of aerosols and their effects on climate. A better understanding is essential to improve climate models.

"We need to know about these particles much better than us," said Michael Mishchenko project scientist of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

In the last century, average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the world. Scientists blame carbon dioxide, principally from the combustion of coal, oil and other fossil fuels, such as the root cause of global warming.

Unlike greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that linger for years, aerosols are ephemeral — staying for weeks — so is much more difficult to measure their carbon dioxide.

Most aerosols — about 90 percent — comes from natural sources such as volcanic ash, desert dust and smoke from forest fires. The rest is from human activity.

Aerosols may influence both the heating and cooling the Earth depending on their color and chemical composition. They may involve cooling scattering sunlight back into space; are also capable of absorbing the solar heating of the atmosphere.

Dozens of satellites have been studying aerosols over the past 50 years. But the glory is designed to make more accurate measurements of aerosols from space by studying how widely they are deployed and their various properties.

In addition to tracking aerosols in the atmosphere, Glory will also changes in solar activity to determine the effect of the Sun on the climate.

Gloria will be launched aboard a Taurus XL rocket built by four phases Orbital Sciences Corp. The mission marks the return of the Taurus XL flight after a bankruptcy in 2009 that resulted in the loss of a global warming NASA satellite.

Glory, which weighs about half a Volkswagen Beetle, will run for at least three years. The chassis of the spacecraft was recycled from a mission that never flew and had to be adapted to accommodate the two key tools.

The mission was to fly last November, but a problem with solar panels launch delayed by three months. Once in low Earth orbit, glory will join a convoy of satellites already gathering information climate.

Unusual name probe stemmed from an atmospheric phenomenon caused by the dispersion of sunlight by water droplets in a cloud.

India Cancel Deal satellite spectrum after a dispute

India has decided to cancel the agreement at issue to lease satellite spectrum of a private company, claiming that needs s-band spectrum for national purposes, including the defence.

A Committee of Cabinet Security decided to cancel the 2005 agreement between Antrix, the commercial arm of space research organization (ISRO) Indian and Devas Multimedia, Minister of India Veerappa Moily, told reporters at a briefing TV in Delhi on Thursday.

The cancellation is done pursuant to the provisions of the agreement, said Moily. He has not explained why ISRO, an agency of the country under the space, which includes the Office of the Prime Minister, had concluded the agreement in the first place.

Deva, Deutsche Telekom as an investor, was not immediately available for comment.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said that it expects the Government to fulfil all the obligations of the agreement and will take "strong, including legal action," to protect the rights and interests of the company.

Moily has said that if they should go to Court Devas, it would fail.

After media reports and opposition politicians, earlier this month has questioned the proposed leasing spectrum satellite Devas without an auction, the GOI claimed that the agreement with Devas was already under consideration by December 2009. The controller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is reviewing the deal and has asked the Government because the agreement was finalized without competitive bid, according to reports.

Similar issues were raised in November by the GAC on the decision of the Department of telecommunications to allocate spectrum of 2 G mobile operators on a first come first served basis. The Telecommunications Department allegedly favoured some private operators, not following proper procedures, said the GAC. Central Bureau of Investigation of India has arrested a number of people including telecom ex-Minister of the country, r. Raja, in connection with this controversy.

Devas, a startup at Bangalore, was founded in 2004 to establish a national satellite system for delivering applications for rural development, e-Government, emergency communications, remote connectivity and strategic services, according to the website of the company.

The Department of space in 2000 was authorized to enter into commercial agreements with non-governmental users for spare capacity on its satellites, after meeting the requirement of government agencies. Private companies with foreign participation Indian less than 74% were authorized to establish satellite systems, and the Department may contract to build capacity on its satellites that could be used to provide private companies with commercially to spectrum.

Government officials said earlier this month that the space Department had begun a review of the agreement between Antrix and Devas in December 2009 and recommended that it was canceled in July 2010.

The contract had not been resolved yet because it was a complex process, k. Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of space, he told reporters at a briefing earlier this month.

Deva said earlier this month that it had proceeded with the project after having obtained the necessary permissions and approvals from government agencies, including the Commission and the Office space of the Union, and the same it has been confirmed by Antrix in February 2006.

Deva also received approvals to foreign direct investment by Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India and is in full compliance with government regulations, the company said.

Having fulfilled all its obligations towards the 2005 agreement, Devas said it now expects delivery of contracted space segment capacity, which was delayed by more than two years.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and General technology breaking news from India to the IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @ Johnribeiro. E-mail address of John john_ribeiro@idg.com