STS-129 (ISS assembly flight ULF3) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Atlantis. STS-129 focused on staging spare components outside the station. The 11-day flight included three spacewalks. The payload bay carried two large ExPRESS Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter, and a high-pressure gas tank. STS-129 was the first flight of an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier.
Low Earth OrbitNSS-12 is used to provide communications services for telecommunications providers, broadcasters, corporations and governments in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and other parts of Asia. It operates as 57 degrees East. Thor 6 is a Telenor satellite providing direct to home television services to Central and Eastern Europe from 1 degree West.
Geostationary Transfer OrbitAmazonas 2 is a communications satellite serving civilians broadband in North, Central and South America. Operates at 61 degrees West. COMSATBw 1 is a satellite providing German military communications for voice and fax as well as advanced data, video and multimedia.
Geostationary Transfer OrbitSoyuz TMA-16 begins Expedition 21 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Maksim Surayev alongside Flight Engineer, Jeffrey Williams (NASA) & spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté (Spaceflight Adventures, Canada) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on March 18, 2010, 11:24 UTC
Low Earth Orbit