spacetoday.net: News briefs: November 28

Posted: Thu, Nov 29, 2001, 8:48 AM ET (1348 GMT)

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Wednesday that it has won a contract from PanAmSat to build two small GEO communications satellites. The order for two STAR-2 satellites came after PanAmSat ordered another STAR-class satellite from Orbital earlier this year. The first of the two new satellites will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2003.
None of the forecasts for the Leonid meteor shower earlier this month matched what was actually observed, scientists said this week. All of the major forecasts either failed to accurately predict the peak intensity of the shower or its time, but scientists noted that the predictions of the time of the peak were closer to reality than the magnitude of the storm.
A Proton launch vehicle was moved to its launch pad at Baikonur Wednesday in advance of a Saturday launch, RIA Novosti reported. The Proton will launch three Uragan satellites for Russia's GLONASS global positioning system. One of the three satellites is an advanced version, Uragan-M, with a lifetime up to twice as long as earlier versions.