The American Philatelic society informed officially the FIP Secretary General that Dr. Reuben RAMKISSOON had retired from the position of the US delegate to the FIP Section for Astrophilately. On behalf of the Bureau of the FIP Section for Astrophilately I would like to thank Dr. Reuben RAMKISSOON for all he has done for the development of Astrophilately and especially for his great work in the Bureau during about 30 years (since 1986)!!! He was one of those who stood at the origins of the Section.

Dear Ben,

... Read more »

On March 31, 2015 at 13:47 UTC the “Rockot” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Briz-KM” booster (upper stage) orbited 3 “Gonets M” communications satellites and the “Kosmos-2504” military satellite. It was the 23^rd launch of a Rockot rocket-carrier since 2000.

On March 30, 2015 at 13:52 UTC, the Chang Zheng-3C/YZ-1 (Long March-3C/YZ-1) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited the “Beidou” navigation satellite.

On March 28, 2015 at 11:49 UTC the PSLV-XL C27 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket-carrier was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island, India's primary launch site on the country's east coast. The rocket orbited the IRNSS-1D navigation satellite.

On March 28, 2015 at 01:34 UTC the "Soyuz TMA-16M” spacecraft docked with the Russian "Poisk” (MIM-2) module of the International Space Station in automatic regime.

The Soyuz TMA-16M delivered three new members of Expedition 43 to the ISS, Russian cosmonauts Gennadiy Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko as well as American astronaut Scott Kelly. The hatches between the "Soyuz TMA-16M” and the station were opened at 03:31 UTC. The new comers joined current ISS expedition members – Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Italian astronaut Samantha Christoforetti and American astronaut Terry Virts to form Expedition 43 crew of 6 members. The six crew members will be working together aboard the orbital stati ... Read more »

On March 27, 2015 at 21:46 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-ST” rocket- carrier was launched from Kourou space center in French Guiana. The rocket equipped with the “Fregat” booster orbited 2 European navigation satellites: Galileo FOC (№7 Adam and №8 Anastasia). 

On March 27, 2015 at 19:42 UTC the Russian “Soyuz TMA-16M” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Gennadiy Padalka (center); flight-engineer 1, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko (right); flight-engineer 2, American astronaut Scott Kelly (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on March 28. Padalka, Kornienko ... Read more »

On March 26, 2015 at 01:21 UTC the H-2A/202 rocket-carrier was launched from Tanegashima Space Center, an island spaceport in southern Japan. The rocket orbited the “IGS- Optical 5” new surveillance satellite equipped with a high-resolution optical camera. The imager’s exact capabilities are kept secret by the Japanese government.

On March 25, 2015 at 22:08 UTC (March 26 at 01:08 Moscow time) a Soviet-era "Dnepr” ballistic missile blasted off from southern Russia. The "Dnepr” rocket launched from an underground silo at a space base near Yasny, Russia, a small community in the Orenburg region in the southern part of the country. The launch was performed by Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation in according to the agreement with Kosmotras, a Moscow-based company with joint Russian-Ukrainian ownership that oversees the commercial exploitation of the Dnepr rocket. The rocket orbited the “KompSat-3A” (Korean Multi-purpose Satellite 3) Earth observation satellite.

On March 25, 2015 at 14:36 UTC the “Delta-4” 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 orbited GPS Block IIF-9 navigation satellite.