On October 16, 2015 at 20:40 UTC the Russian "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited the Turkish “Turksat-4B” telecommunication satellite. The satellite is designed for a 15-year service life.

On October 16, 2015 at 16:16 UTC (on October 16 at 00:16 Beijing time), the Chang Zheng-3B/E (Long March-3B/E) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited the “APStar-9” telecommunication satellite. Owned and operated by APT Satellite in Hong Kong, the Apstar 9 communications platform is beginning a 15-year mission to replace the aging Apstar 9A satellite in orbit since 1998.

We placed a picture presentation for the Lecture on Astrophilately about the Korean postage stamps flown in space during the flight of the first Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon. The lecture on Astrophilately at PhilaKorea 2014 was conducted by Igor Rodin. You may download the presentation from HERE.

We added information about "GMUNDEN - 2015" Austrian National philatelic exhibition with international participation and the Astrophilately Salon hold in the frames of that event. To read more information and to see many photos, please, click here.

On October 08, 2015 at 12:49 UTC the "Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 30th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the payload named as NROL-55 for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL (National Reconnaissance Office Launch) abbreviation is used to identify classified satellites operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. The main payload is a pair of the NOSS-3 (the Naval Ocean Surveillance System) electronic intelligence satellites. The rocket-carrier was also to orbit several CubeSats.

In the period from October 5 till October 7, 2015 twelve micro satellites were launched from the International Space Station. On October 05, 2015 at 14:05 UTC two Danish satellites the GOMX-3 and the AAUSAT-5 were launched. On October 06, 2015 at 01:15 UTC the “Flock-2b.1” and “Flock-2b.2” CubeSat satellites were launched. On October 06, 2015 at 04:30 UTC the “Flock-2b.3” and “Flock-2b.4” CubeSat satellites were launched. On October 06, 2015 at 08:31 UTC the “Flock-2b.5” and “Flock-2b.6” CubeSat satellites were launched. On October 06, 2015 at 11:45 UTC the “Flock-2b.7” and “Flock-2b.8” CubeSat satellites were launched. On October 07, 2015 at 00:10 UTC the “Flock-2b.9” and “Flock-2b.10” CubeSat satellites were launched. All twelve micro satellites were delivered to the ISS by the 5th Japan Aerosp ... Read more »

On October 07, 2015, at 04:13 UTC the “Long March –2D” (“Changzheng-2D”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, the northwest of China. The rocket orbited the group of four “Jilin-1” Earth imaging satellites. The largest of the satellite quartet is about 420 kg and it reportedly has a top resolution of about 0.7 meters. Three other satellites are smaller, two for video capture and one for engineering tests.

On October 02, 2015 at 10:28 UTC the "Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket equipped with the “Centaur” booster orbited the Mexican “Morelos-3” (Mexsat-2) telecommunication satellite.

In September 2015 the Russian Federal Communications Agency issued the postal stationery (a post card) devoted to the 50th Anniversary of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Total edition is 7750 post cards.

The card was postmarked with the special official cancellation also devoted to the 50th Anniversary of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Institute (Russian abbreviation: ИКИ РАН, IKI RAN) is the leading organization of the Russian Academy of Sciences on space explorat ... Read more »

On October 02, 2015 at 01:52 Moscow time (on October 01 at 22:52 UTC) the Russian “Progress M-29M” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian “Zvezda” (Star) module. The spacecraft carried 2360 kilograms of cargo for the six-member ISS crew.