RETIRED MILITARY WEATHER SATELLITE BREAKS UP - A defunct military weather satellite has broken up in orbit and created more than 50 pieces of debris, the latest in a series of similar incidents involving that line of spacecraft. The U.S. Space Force reported Dec. 19 that it had identified a “low-velocity fragmentation event” involving the... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 21)
ROCKET LAB SCRUBS STRIX RADAR SATELLITE LAUNCH FOR SYNSPECTIVE OVER 'SENSOR DATA' - The spaceflight company Rocket Lab called off a planned launch of half a dozen commercial satellites due to concerns over sensor readings on Friday (Dec. 20). Rocket Lab scrubbed what was to be its 16th Electron rocket flight of 2024 less than 20 minutes before planned liftoff at 10:03 a.m. EST (... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 21)
ABORT! SPACEX CALLS OFF LAUNCH OF 'MICROGEO' SATELLITES AT LAST SECOND - SpaceX's plans to launch four small communications satellites to a high Earth orbit were called off as the countdown reached T-0 seconds on Saturday (Dec. 1). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying four "MicroGEO" satellites built by San Francisco company Astranis had been scheduled to lift off from Cape Can... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 21)
CHINA NEARS RECORD LAUNCH YEAR WITH CERES-1 AND SAR SATELLITE MISSIONS - Chinese launch startup Galactic Energy conducted its fourth sea launch early Thursday as China continued its recent high launch cadence. The Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off at 5:18 a.m. Eastern (1018 UTC) Dec. 19 from a converted mobile sea platform off the coast of Shandong province, near Rizhao... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 20)
WATCH RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS INSTALL NEW X-RAY DETECTOR DURING ISS SPACEWALK TODAY - Two Russian cosmonauts will venture out into the vacuum of space today, and you can watch it live. Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia's space agency Roscosmos will begin a spacewalk, or extra-vehicular activity (EVA), outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (Dec. 19) begi... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 20)
SPACEX INKS DEAL TO LAUNCH 2 MORE ASTRONAUT MISSIONS TO THE ISS - SpaceX has signed a deal to fly two more private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS) using its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. The flights were booked by California company Vast Space, which is developing a private space station called Haven-1 that could reach orb... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 20)
CHINESE ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT RECORD-BREAKING 9-HOUR SPACEWALK OUTSIDE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - Two Chinese astronauts just secured a spot in spaceflight history. Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of China's three-person Shenzhou 19 mission, spent more than nine hours spacewalking outside the Tiangong space station from late Monday night (Dec. 16) through Tuesday morning (Dec. 17), accordin... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 19)
NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR ROSCOSMOS SPACEWALK 63 OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - NASA will provide live coverage as two Roscosmos cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 19. NASA’s live coverage begins at 9:45 a.m. EST, Thursday on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social medi... More (Source: NASA - Dec 19)
AXIOM SPACE REVISES SPACE STATION ASSEMBLY PLANS - Axiom Space is revising the assembly sequence for its commercial space station, a move it says will allow it to get to a free-flying station sooner while addressing NASA’s needs to prepare for the deorbiting of the International Space Station. The company announced Dec. 18 a revised sequence of... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 19)
RETURN OF NASA ASTRONAUTS FROM SPACE STATION FURTHER DELAYED UNTIL LATE MARCH - NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore's return to Earth will be further delayed until at least late March, the agency said, taking what should have been an eight-day stay on the International Space Station to more than nine months. The duo had traveled to the ISS in June for the test miss... More (Source: Reuters - Dec 19)
JAPANESE SPACE STARTUP ABORTS 2ND SATELLITE LAUNCH ATTEMPT MINUTES AFTER LIFTOFF - A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday and destroyed itself again, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion. Space One’s Kairos No. 2 rocket lifted of... More (Source: AP News - Dec 19)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FIRST TWO SES O3B MPOWER SATELLITES WITH UPGRADES TO ADDRESS POWER ISSUES SEEN ON EARLIER SPACECRAFT - SpaceX completed its third Falcon 9 launch in less than 24 hours with a launch for one of its oldest customers: Luxembourg-based communications company, SES. Liftoff of the O3b mPOWER 7 and 8 satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center happened near sunset at 5:26 p.m.... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 18)
U.S. SPACE FORCE LAUNCHES EXPEDITED GPS MISSION USING FALCON 9 ROCKET - The latest third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite launched to orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday night. Unlike previous GPS missions though, the launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket marked a first-of-its-kind mission for the U.S. Space Force. The launch, pr... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 18)
SPACEX’S 31ST DRAGON CARGO CAPSULE DEPARTS ISS TO HEAD HOME TO EARTH - SpaceX's 31st robotic cargo mission is headed back to Earth. SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on schedule today (Dec. 16) at 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT) today (Dec. 16). The spacecraft will begin a series of deorbit burns to complete the company's 31... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 17)
HOW CHINA’S SATELLITE MEGAPROJECTS ARE CHALLENGING ELON MUSK’S STARLINK - China faces a tall order in its efforts to catch up to Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite service. SpaceX’s Starlink already has nearly 7,000 operational satellites in orbit and serves around 5 million customers in more than 100 countries, according to SpaceX. The service is meant to offer high-spe... More (Source: CNBC - Dec 16)
NASA ASTRONAUT USES HOMEMADE STAR TRACKER TO TAKE INCREDIBLE DEEP SPACE PHOTO FROM ISS - Astronauts are many things. They're often scientists, engineers, or pilots. And in the case of NASA astronaut Don Pettit, he's also an astrophotographer. Pettit is currently on his third stay on the International Space Station (ISS), and he's continuing his long-running tradition of taking out-of... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 15)
CHINA LAUNCHES “LASER DIAMOND CONSTELLATION TEST” SATELLITES - China launched a set of satellites likely intended to test inter-satellite laser links early Thursday as the country moves ahead with major constellation projects. A Long March 2D rocket topped with a Yuanzheng-3 restartable upper stage lifted off at 2:17 a.m. Eastern (0717 UTC) Dec. 12 from Jiuq... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday afternoon. It came as the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) continues work to ensure resiliency from its two primary spaceports that’s seeing far more orbital launches than it has hist... More (Source: SoaceFlight Now - Dec 15)
SPACE FORCE TO TEST MODULAR SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY IN UPCOMING MISSION - The U.S. Space Force plans to use a “plug and play” satellite interface developed by The Aerospace Corporation for an upcoming mission under its Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) program. The program seeks to validate technologies and tactics to shorten the timeline for launching payloads, suc... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 13)
