NASA SELECTS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION US DEORBIT VEHICLE - NASA is fostering continued scientific, educational, and technological developments in low Earth orbit to benefit humanity, while also supporting deep space exploration at the Moon and Mars. As the agency transitions to commercially owned space destinations closer to home, it is crucial to prepare f... More (Source: NASA - Jun 28)
SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS THREATEN OZONE LAYER RECOVERY, STUDY CONFIRMS - Concentrations of ozone-damaging aluminum oxides in Earth's atmosphere could increase by 650% in the coming decades due to a rise in the number of defunct satellites burning up during reentry, a first-of-a-kind study has found. And, as satellite megaconstellations continue to pique the interests of ... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 27)
NASA ASTRONAUTS STUCK WAITING ABOARD ISS TO RETURN TO EARTH AMID ISSUES WITH BOEING'S STARLINER - Two NASA astronauts have no set date to return to Earth and are stuck waiting aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to several mechanical issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Starliner launched on June 5 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with... More (Source: ABC News - Jun 27)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FINAL NOAA GOES WEATHER SATELLITE ON FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - The finale in a series of critical weather satellites for the United States surmounted some weather challenges as it began its journey to join its three fellow satellites on orbit. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-U (GOES-U) satellite is designed to provide critical weather, cl... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 26)
NASA CANCELS ISS SPACEWALK DUE TO SPACESUIT COOLANT LEAK - NASA cancelled a spacewalk at the International Space Station today (June 24) following a spacesuit coolant leak in the hatch. NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mike Barratt were told by Mission Control at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT) to stop the planned 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the Internat... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 26)
FIREFLY TO LAUNCH ALPHA FROM WALLOPS - Firefly Aerospace announced June 24 it plans to launch its Alpha rocket from the same pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, used by the Antares rocket, rather than from Cape Canaveral as previously planned. The company said that it would use Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wall... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 25)
POWERFUL GOES-U WEATHER SATELLITE CLEARED FOR JUNE 25 LAUNCH ON SPACEX FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - The green lights continue to shine leading up to the launch of a powerful U.S. weather satellite. GOES-U, the fourth and final member of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-R series of next-gen weather satellites, has been cleared for its planned Tuesday (June ... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 25)
IRAN TO CONDUCT TWO MAJOR SATELLITE LAUNCHES IN COMING WEEKS - Iran is set to conduct two significant satellite launches in the coming weeks, according to Hassan Salariyeh, the head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA). Salariyeh announced on Saturday that the launches are scheduled to occur before July 21, as reported by the official IRNA news agency. Sala... More (Source: Eurasia Review - Jun 24)
SPACEX MARKS RECORD 20TH FLIGHT WITH FALCON 9 PAYLOAD FAIRING HALF ON STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX completed the launch of its first Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in more than two weeks on Saturday. The last time the company attempted to launch the Starlink 10-2 mission, it encountered a rare scrub as the Falcon 9’s first stage Merlin engines began firing. L... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 24)
SPACEX COMPLETES FALCON 9 DOUBLE LAUNCH DAY WITH STARLINK MISSION FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE STATION - SpaceX completed another double launch day with a West Coast launch of 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, including 13 featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff of the Starlink 9-2 mission happened at 8:47 p.m. PDT (11:47 p.m. EDT, 0347 UTC). It came following the launch of 22 Starlink satellit... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 24)
HOW THE GOES U SATELLITE WILL CHANGE EARTH AND SPACE WEATHER FORECASTS FOREVER - I remember in college in the late 2000s learning about forecasting weather. My classmates and I would hand draw maps with the current weather systems and then we'd look at the satellite data to help paint the picture of what would happen in the coming hours and days. NOAA's weather satellites we... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 24)
CHINA LAUNCHES SINO-FRENCH ASTROPHYSICS SATELLITE, DEBRIS FALLS OVER POPULATED AREA - A Chinese launch of the joint Sino-French SVOM mission to study Gamma-ray bursts early Saturday saw toxic rocket debris fall over a populated area. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 3:00 a.m. Eastern (0700 UTC) June 22, sending the Space Variable Objects Mo... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 24)
‘LOST SATELLITE’ FOUND (AGAIN) AFTER ORBITING EARTH FOR 25 YEARS - An experimental satellite that drifted undetected in space for 25 years has been found using tracking data from the U.S. Space Force, Space.com is reporting. The Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (S73-7) satellite was launched on April 10, 1974, through the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program. The ... More (Source: WOKV - Jun 22)
SPACEX LAUNCHES LATEST SES BROADCAST SATELLITE - SpaceX successfully launched Astra 1P for Luxembourg fleet operator SES June 20 toward geostationary orbit, where it is eventually due to replace four older broadcast satellites over Europe. A Falcon 9 lifted off 5:35 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida after twice be... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 22)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 5 IOT SATELLITES ON LANDMARK 50TH MISSION - Rocket Lab reached the milestone 50th launch of its Electron rocket in record time. An Electron lifted off from Pad B at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, at 2:13 p.m. EDT on June 20 (1813 GMT; 6:13 a.m. local New Zealand time on June 21). The rocket was operating with an instantaneous laun... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 21)
SATELLITES CAPTURES UNIQUE IMAGE OF SPACE JUNK - Astroscale's ADRAS-J satellite, launched by a Rocket Lab Electron rocket in February 2024, captured close-up images of a discarded 11-meter-long (36 feet) H-2A rocket upper stage that has been orbiting Earth for nearly 20 years as part of JAXA's CRD2 program, marking a world first. Satellites in ... More (Source: Israel Hayom - Jun 21)
MEGACONSTELLATIONS OF SATELLITES ARE BURNING UP IN OUR ATMOSPHERE. THAT COULD HAVE CONSEQUENCES - If, on a clear night, you were to gaze up into the blackness of the sky, you would expect to see nothing but the magnificent Milky Way stretching out above you, billions of stars twinkling in place. Instead, every few minutes or so, you will most likely also see an ersatz star breaking through an... More (Source: CBC - Jun 21)
FIRST CREW OF BOEING STARLINER TO REMAIN AT ISS UNTIL LATE JUNE - Wilmore and Williams arrived at the ISS on June 6, one day after launching from the U.S. spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Their scheduled docking with the space station was delayed when five of its 28 maneuvering thrusters failed as it approached the orbital outpost. The spacecraft has also exp... More (Source: VOA - Jun 20)
NASA RESCHEDULES ISS SPACEWALK AFTER ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCES 'SPACESUIT DISCOMFORT' - NASA has picked a new date for the spacewalk that was postponed last weekend due to "spacesuit discomfort." NASA astronauts Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick were set to perform the International Space Station's (ISS) 90th extravehicular activity (EVA 90) on June 13, and had already been outfitted wi... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 19)
