Telstar 18, launched June 28, 2004 aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket, has successfully reached its in-orbit testing position at 142 degrees East longitude. During the satellite's launch, the Zenit rocket's upper stage shut down 54 seconds early and released the satellite into a low orbit. After the launch, engineers at Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) raised the spacecraft to its correct orbit using a series of carefully planned satellite maneuvers and thruster burns.
Geostationary OrbitROCSAT 2 (Republic of China Satellite 2) is the second high-resolution Earth observation satellite for the Taiwanese National Space Program Office (NSPO) whose mission is regional remote sensing – to collect data to be used for natural disaster evaluation, agricultural applications, urban planning strategy, environmental monitoring, and ocean surveillance. In addition, the satellite's payload will include an auroral observation instrument.
Medium Earth Orbit