Two foreign spacecraft will launch onboard the PSLV-C21 in September

LOS ANGELES — Spacecraft component and control system specialist Moog remains on the acquisition trail after completing the purchase of American Pacific Corp.’s In-Space Propulsion (ISP) unit. “Our intent is to move up to providing complete systems, and that’s difficult if you don’t have engines,” says Moog Space and Defense Group President Jay Hennig. The In-Space Propulsion business, which Moog bought for $46 million, makes liquid propulsion systems and parts for satellites and missiles at sites in the U.S. as well as Ireland and the U.K.

ATLANTA — Orbital Sciences Corp. says it is “two to three weeks” away from officially taking possession of the launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va., which will give the company the green light to complete preparations for the first demonstration flight of its Antares rocket.

Engineers have used data from the ground and space to pinpoint NASA’s Curiosity rover on the floor of the Gale Crater

Europe’s Meteosat Second Generation-3 spacecraft, launched July 5, has generated the first image of the Earth using its primary instrumentation. The first results from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (Seviri) mark a milestone in the six-month commissioning process, the European Space Agency announced Aug. 7.

PARED PROJECTIONS: A little more than one year after its KA-SAT broadband satellite entered service, fleet operator Eutelsat is lowering its revenue expectations. The Paris-based company says the all-Ka-band spacecraft is still expected to generate €100 million ($122 million) in new business, but not until 2015, one year later than projected. In its first year of the satellite’s service, Eutelsat’s Tooway satellite broadband business had generated €49.9 million in revenue as of June 30.

PASADENA, Calif. — Scientists and engineers on the Mars Science Lab mission are pleased with their “Sol 0” position on the planet’s surface, as checkout and early science of the planned two-year exploration mission begins.

NEW DELHI — With NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory having just touched down at Gale Crater on Mars, the Indian government now has given the final green light for its first orbiter mission to the red planet in November 2013. In December 2011, India’s Space Commission gave its approval for the project, which is estimated to cost around 4.5 billion rupees ($80.7 million). The government has allocated 1.25 billion rupees for the initial phase of the mission for India’s current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2013.