ISRO launching Mars Orbiter Mission on November 5

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) would be launched at 2.36 pm on November 5 aboard PSLV-C25 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Tuesday. The decision was taken following a meeting of ISRO officials earlier in the day.

The MOM was to originally launch on October 28 but the ISRO deferred it on October 19 after Nalanda, one of the two Shipping Corporation of India ships that will track the PSLV, failed to reach its specified location near the Fiji Islands due to poor weather in the South Pacific Ocean.

The ships-Yamuna and Nalanda-are now positioned in the South Pacific Ocean. The ISRO has set an October 28 to November 19 window for the launch. These are the days when Mars would be closest to earth, an occurrence that will repeat only after 780 days.

NASA is incidentally set to launch its latest Mars orbiter Maven on November 18.

ISRO officials said PSLV-C25 and the spacecraft carrying the 15-kg Mars Orbiter were in good health. "The integration of the spacecraft with the launcher PSLV-C25 is completed and the heat shield closure activity is also completed," ISRO director of publicity D P Karnik said.

The preparations now move towards fuelling of the launch vehicle and final checks.

Work done at ISRO centres around the country on the 1,343-kg spacecraft, the workhorse PSLV and five science instruments on the mission converged at Sriharikota on October 3 to bring the Rs 450-crore Mangalyaan Mission into its final stages.

China is the top outer Space Polluter

China has topped the list of the world's major polluters of the near-Earth space environment, followed by the United States and Russia, the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Friday.

All together, the three main space powers produce 93% of space debris, according to a statement published on the agency's website.

"According to estimates, 40% of space debris is produced by China. The U.S.'s share accounts for 27.5%, and Russia's [share] for 25.5%, with 7% falling on other countries involved in space exploration," the statement said.

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has named Russia and CIS countries as the main polluters of outer space. According to the organization, Russia and its former Soviet allies disposed of a total of 5,833 spacecraft or their parts, including 1,402 satellites and 4,431 parts of carrier rockets, by ejecting them into near-Earth space.

Some 15,550 "dead" spacecraft, rocket stages, upper-stage rockets and their parts are orbiting around Earth, according to the U.S. space agency.

NASA also named France, Japan and India as major polluters of the near-Earth space environment, with the figures standing at 472, 190 and 170, respectively.

China is planning the launch of its own space laboratories

China plans to launch an unmanned space module, Tiangong 1, in 2011, said Qi Faren, the chief designer of China's Shenzhou spacecraft, at the sidelines of the annual plenary session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, on March 3.

Tiangong, or the Heavenly Palace, will eventually be transformed into a manned space laboratory after experimental dockings by the three Shenzhou spacecrafts—Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, which are expected to be launched into space within two years of the module's launch, said Qi.

Qi said that Tiangong 1, which weighs approximately 8.5 tons, is expected to complete China's first space docking with Shenzhou 8 during the following year, and will perform long-term independent operations, which are regarded as an essential step toward building a space station.

The official website of China's manned space program, Cmse.gov.cn, says China is now in the second phase of a three-step plan that the nation has drafted for implementing its manned space program.

China is planning the launch of its own space laboratories

China plans to launch an unmanned space module, Tiangong 1, in 2011, said Qi Faren, the chief designer of China's Shenzhou spacecraft, at the sidelines of the annual plenary session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, on March 3.

Tiangong, or the Heavenly Palace, will eventually be transformed into a manned space laboratory after experimental dockings by the three Shenzhou spacecrafts—Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, which are expected to be launched into space within two years of the module's launch, said Qi.

Qi said that Tiangong 1, which weighs approximately 8.5 tons, is expected to complete China's first space docking with Shenzhou 8 during the following year, and will perform long-term independent operations, which are regarded as an essential step toward building a space station.

The official website of China's manned space program, Cmse.gov.cn, says China is now in the second phase of a three-step plan that the nation has drafted for implementing its manned space program.

China To Start Space Station in 2010 or 2011

China is planning to launch their own space station, named Tiangong, by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011. There have been a few instances where information about the station surfaces briefly over the past few years about the development of the space station. Specific details on the program are not being release in large doses by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), so the development of the station is somewhat shrouded in mystery.

Qi Faren, one of the designers of the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft, said in an interview on CCTV last month of the upcoming launch, "Quality is the key to technology. We must guarantee a successful launch. We will launch it whenever we are ready. It will be the end of 2010, or the beginning of 2011."