NORTH KOREA SAYS ITS LATEST SATELLITE LAUNCH EXPLODED IN FLIGHT - North Korea said its attempt to launch a new military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure on Monday when a newly developed rocket engine exploded in flight. The attempt came just hours after Pyongyang issued a warning that it would try to launch a satellite by June 4, in what would have bee... More (Source: CNBC - May 28)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 23 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA ON TUESDAY MORNING - SpaceX is set to launch yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida on Tuesday morning (May 28). A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to loft 23 Starlink spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday during a four-hour window beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT).... More (Source: Space.com - May 28)
NASA LAUNCHES SMALL CLIMATE SATELLITE TO STUDY EARTH’S POLES - The first of a pair of climate satellites designed to study heat emissions at Earth’s poles for NASA is in orbit after lifting off atop Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand at 7:41 p.m. NZST (3:41 a.m. EDT) on Saturday. The agency’s PREFI... More (Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - May 27)
NASA SAYS BOEING’S STARLINER CREW CAPSULE CAN SAFELY FLY ‘AS IS’ WITH PROPULSION SYSTEM HELIUM LEAK - After nearly three weeks of exhaustive tests and data analysis, NASA managers said Friday they are confident Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner crew capsule can safely launch “as is” June 1, saying a small helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system does not pose a flight safety concern. Stev... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 27)
JAPAN SAYS NORTH KOREA WILL LAUNCH A MILITARY SPY SATELLITE BY JUNE 3 - Japan said Monday that North Korea has informed it of a plan to launch a satellite by June 3, an apparent effort to put its second military spy satellite into orbit. The launch notification came as leaders of South Korea, Japan and China gathered in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting later ... More (Source: New York Post - May 27)
SPACE FORCE FOUND A SATELLITE LOST IN SPACE FOR 25 YEARS - he short NBC News documentary Battlefield Space took viewers inside Space Force, the newest branch of the United States military, for a look at its efforts to safeguard the final frontier. The organization’s stated mission is both broad and vague: to secure the interests of the U.S. and deter aggr... More (Source: Syfy - May 24)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FIRST SATELLITES FOR NEW US SPY CONSTELLATION - SpaceX on Wednesday launched an inaugural batch of operational spy satellites it built as part of a new U.S. intelligence network designed to significantly upgrade the country's space-based surveillance powers, the first deployment of several more planned this year. The spy network was revealed in ... More (Source: Reuters - May 24)
AIRBUS TO BUILD ESA SPACE SCIENCE SATELLITE - The European Space Agency has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to build a spacecraft that will provide a unique view of the sun. ESA held a signing ceremony May 22 in Brussels for a contract valued at 340 million euros ($369 million) for the Vigil spacecraft. Airbus will build Vigil at... More (Source: SpaceNews - May 24)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FIRST DEDICATED STARLINK FLIGHT - SpaceX completed its third Falcon 9 launch in less than 48 hours with a mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. As with its launch Wednesday night, SpaceX sent another 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Either serendipitously or intentionally, the Starlink 6-63 mission fell on the fif... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 24)
NASA, BOEING AND ULA ANNOUNCE JUNE 1 AS NEW TARGET DATE FOR STARLINER’S CREW FLIGHT TEST - NASA is looking at the start of June for its next attempt to launch its astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, on board Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The announcement came last Wednesday night in a blog post, stating that June 1 will be the earliest that the Crew Flight Test of Starliner ca... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 23)
U.S. CLAIMS RECENTLY LAUNCHED RUSSIAN SATELLITE IS AN ASAT - The U.S. government claims that a recently launched Russian satellite is a counterspace weapon placed in nearly the same orbit as an American reconnaissance satellite. Amb. Robert Wood, U.S. alternate representative for special political affairs in the United Nations, made the allegation during a... More (Source: SpaceNews - May 22)
MAINE’S FIRST RESEARCH SATELLITE TO LAUNCH THIS YEAR - Maine’s first small research satellite, designed to engage middle and high school students in STEM, is expected to launch into orbit within the next couple of months. Firefly Aerospace, a company based in Cedar Rapids, Texas, integrated the nearly one-foot-tall satellite, known as MESAT1, into ... More (Source: Sun Journal - May 21)
SATELLITE MISSION TO UNRAVEL HOW CLOUDS IMPACT FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE - A brand new satellite that will revolutionize our understanding of the role clouds and aerosol particles play in climate change is set to launch after more than 30 years of planning. The EarthCARE satellite is the brainchild of the University of Reading's Professor Anthony Illingworth. Conceived ... More (Source: Phys.org - May 21)
HOW THE SPACE SHUTTLE COMPLETED A FINAL, DARING HUBBLE REPAIR 15 YEARS AGO - The Hubble Space Telescope continues to operate to this day in part due to the work performed 15 years ago by the crew of STS-125. Dubbed Hubble Servicing Mission 4 (HSM 4), scientists knew this would be their final chance to use the space shuttle to visit and upgrade the orbiting laboratory. As ... More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - May 21)
BOEING'S TROUBLED STARLINER SPACECRAFT LAUNCH IS DELAYED AGAIN - The first crewed launch of Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft has been delayed again, to May 25, this time because of a helium leak in the service module. NASA had set the liftoff for May 21 after scrubbing a May 6 launch but the helium leak was discovered on Wednesday. While the agency said ... More (Source: NPR - May 21)
BLUE ORIGIN LAUNCHES 1ST CREWED SPACEFLIGHT SINCE AUGUST 2022 - Blue Origin's nearly two-year human spaceflight drought is over. Jeff Bezos' aerospace company launched its NS-25 mission today (May 19), sending six people — including the United States' first-ever Black astronaut candidate — on a brief trip to suborbital space aboard its New Shepard rocket-... More (Source: Space.com - May 20)
NASA, BOEING FURTHER DELAY STARLINER CREW FLIGHT TEST LAUNCH AMID ONGOING HELIUM LEAK REVIEW - Ongoing analysis of a helium leak on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft forced NASA and Boeing to delay the Crew Flight Test mission further. A blog post, issued late on Friday afternoon, announced a new target launch date for Starliner CFT with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams of no ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 18)
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW MYSTERY SHIYAN SATELLITE - China launched the latest in its secretive Shiyan satellite series over the weekend. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China, at 7:43 p.m.EDT on May 11 (2343 GMT, or 7:43 a.m. Beijing time on May 12). Chinese authorities revealed ... More (Source: Space.com - May 18)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES STARLINK SATELLITES ON RECORD 21ST FLIGHT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched for the 21st time tonight (May 17), setting a new reusability record for the company. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:32 p.m. EDT (0032 GMT on May 18), sending 23 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites toward orbit... More (Source: Space.com - May 18)
