CHINA’S TIANGONG SPACE STATION TO DOUBLE IN SIZE AS NASA PHASES OUT ISS - China has confirmed plans to expand its space station, potentially more than doubling in size to meet growing scientific demand and expand international cooperation. The Tiangong and the International Space Station (ISS) are the only space stations operating in low Earth orbit. The ISS, led by Nasa and built with contributions from 15 countries, is the biggest structure in space and has been a laboratory for more than 3,000 experiments.   More
(Source: South China Morning Post - May 1)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 24 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - Following a successful Falcon Heavy launch from Florida on Wednesday morning, SpaceX rounded out the day by launching a Falcon 9 rocket from California. The Starlink 17-36 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s massive low Earth orbit constellation. This was the 42nd mission sending Starlink satellites into space this year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 1)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 6-TON VIASAT-3 F3 SATELLITE ON FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - SpaceX’s most powerful operational rocket, the Falcon Heavy, lifted off Wednesday carrying a massive communications satellite on its 12th flight since 2018. The 27 Merlin engines of the three Falcon boosters roared to life at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC) and the 70-meter-tall (229.6 ft) rocket thundered away from Launch Complex 39A propelled by 5 million pounds of thrust.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 30)

DATA CENTRES ARE CONTROVERSIAL: WILL LAUNCHING THEM INTO SPACE HELP? - As the huge data centres powering the artificial-intelligence boom grow ever more unpopular on Earth, companies are planning to launch them into space. In the past few months, firms including SpaceX, Google and Blue Origin have all shared plans to launch large fleets, or constellations, of satellites into low Earth orbit. The networks would act in a similar way to the interconnected computers inside data centres on Earth, which process, store and transmit data on a massive scale. Putting these ‘orbital data centres’ into space could, in theory, address concerns about their energy and water consumption, and their occupation of wide swathes of land.   More
(Source: Nature - Apr 29)

CREW OPENS CARGO CRAFT, WORKS ON PHYSICS GEAR AND BIOMEDICAL TECH - The hatches are open between the International Space Station and the new Progress 95 cargo spacecraft following the delivery of about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies on Monday. Expedition 74 commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, both from Roscosmos, finalized leak and pressure checks between Progress 95 and the Zvezda service module’s rear port on Tuesday. Afterward, the duo installed air ducts and began unpacking the spacecraft beginning seven months of cargo activities in the resupply ship.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 29)

PROGRESS 95 CARGO CRAFT DOCKS TO STATION WITH FOOD, FUEL, AND SUPPLIES - The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 95 spacecraft docked to the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda module at 8 p.m. EDT Monday. The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew. It will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about six months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 28)

ULA LAUNCHES 29 AMAZON LEO SATELLITES ON ATLAS 5 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - United Launch Alliance completed its second Atlas 5 rocket launch of the month, marking the company’s fastest turnaround at Space Launch Complex 41 to date. It beats the previous record by nearly three days. On board the Atlas 5 rocket was a batch of 29 Amazon Leo satellites. This will be ULA’s sixth flight delivering production versions of the broadband internet satellites to orbit and its seventh overall, including the two demo satellites launched on the Protoflight mission in October 2023.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 28)

SPACEX FLIES 25 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT ON ITS 50TH FALCON 9 LAUNCH OF THE YEAR - SpaceX launched its 50th Falcon 9 rocket of the year from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday, carrying another batch of satellites for its Starlink internet service. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-16 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred under cloudy skies at 7:37 a.m. PDT (10:37 a.m. EDT / 14:37 UTC). The rocket carrying 25 of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini broadband internet satellites took a southerly trajectory on departure from the central California coast.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 27)

SATELLITE SNAPS AMAZING 36TH BIRTHDAY PIC OF HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - It's a rare treat to see Hubble up close. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was on the receiving end of an amazing space photo for a change. On Friday (April 24), Hubble's 36th birthday, the Colorado-based spatial intelligence company Vantor published a stunning, close-up shot of the telescope that was taken the day before by one of its WorldView Legion Earth-observing satellites.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 26)

Next