Two new satellites will be shining in the night sky thanks to Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket. The Astrium Paradigm Skynet 5B military communications satellite for the British Ministry of Defense, and the Star One C1 commercial communications satellite from Brazilian operator Star One were launched into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) last November 14.

Read more about this new space mission right after the jump!

As US businesswoman Anousheh Ansari prepares to take off from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome next month, Russian engineers are busy making modifications. "A woman's organism is different, that's why we need to modify some of the life systems in the capsule," said Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the RKK Energia space corporation.

The changes are being made mainly to the toilet, and anonymous spokesperson said.

Ansari is taking the place of Japan's Daisuke Enomoto, who failed a medical exam earlier this month. The seat that was specially made for Enomoto will also be replaced.

Ansari will join Russian Mikhail Tyurin and fellow American Michael Lopez-Alegria on the journey. They are currently taking final tests this week at the Star City training centre near Moscow.

Kazakhstan joined the ranks of space-exploring nations when it launched its first communications satellite into space. The unmanned KazSat-1 satellite was launched from Baikonur space center, the world's largest space center, just before dawn.

The satellite, which was launched into space by a Russian Proton rocket, will remain in orbit to relay television and other communications signals to Kazakhstan, parts of Russia and three other Central Asian nations.

Russia currently leases the Soviet-era cosmodrome, but oil-rich Kazakhstan is looking to boost its own role in the lucrative space and satellite industry. Though the know-how came from Russia, Kazakhstan is already training its own cosmonauts for future Baikonur projects. It plans to build its own satellites and provide launch service for other countries.

Russia and Kazakhstan are currently building a new launch facility at Baikonur for the new Angara rocket, which will be an environmentally-friendly alternative to the Proton. The Proton rocket uses poisonous fuel that sometimes spills onto the steppe after blastoff.