SPACE FORCE IS PLANNING A MILITARY EXERCISE IN ORBIT - The US Space Force announced Thursday it is partnering with two companies, Rocket Lab and True Anomaly, for a first-of-its-kind mission to demonstrate how the military might counter “on-orbit aggression.” On this mission, a spacecraft built and launched by Rocket Lab will chase down another satellite made by True Anomaly, a Colorado-based startup. “The vendors will exercise a realistic threat response scenario in an on-orbit space domain awareness demonstration called Victus Haze,” the Space Force's Space Systems Command said in a statement.   More
(Source: WIRED - Apr 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 BOOSTER ON RECORD-BREAKING 20TH FLIGHT - SpaceX shattered multiple records Friday night as it launched 23 satellites for the company’s Starlink internet service from Cape Canaveral. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted offf from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:40 p.m. EDT (0140 UTC). It was the first time a Falcon 9 first-stage booster flew for a 20th time and it came just two days, 20 hours since another Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. That smashes the previous record for the shortest time between launches by 21 hours 24 minutes.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 14)

SUSPECTED SPACE-JUNK STRIKE IN FLORIDA SIGNALS NEW ERA OF ORBITAL DEBRIS - Three years ago astronauts threw out the largest piece of trash ever tossed from the International Space Station. Now some of it seems to have punched a hole through a house in Naples, Fla. In what may be judged as a bizarre and twisted case of “breaking and entering,” last month a plummeting cylindrical object weighing nearly two pounds hit the roof of Alejandro Otero’s home in Naples, Fla., smashed through a ceiling and punched through a floor.   More
(Source: Scientific American - Apr 14)

FLEET SPACE LAUNCHES CENTAURI-6 SATELLITE ON SPACEX’S BANDWAGON-1 MISSION - Fleet Space Technologies has successfully deployed the company’s Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The addition of Centauri-6 to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation will play a vital role in servicing the global demand for its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with smallsat architectures.   More
(Source: SatNews - Apr 13)

RUSSIA’S ANGARA A5 ROCKET BLASTS OFF INTO SPACE AFTER TWO ABORTED LAUNCHES - Russia has launched its Angara A5 rocket from a space facility in the country’s far east after technical glitches prompted officials to abort missions at the last minute for two days in a row. Thursday’s launch of the new space vehicle is intended to showcase Russia’s post-Soviet space ambitions, and the growing role played by the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which is located in the forests of the Amur region bordering China.   More
(Source: Al Jazeera - Apr 13)

SPACEX LAUNCHES SPACE FORCE WEATHER SATELLITE DESIGNED TO TAKE OVER FOR A PROGRAM WITH ROOTS TO THE 1960S - SpaceX launched a military weather satellite designed to replace aging satellites from a program dating back to the 1960s. The United States Space Force-62 (USSF-62) mission featured the launch of the first Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) spacecraft. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:25 a.m. PDT (10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 UTC), which was the opening of a 10-minute launch window.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 12)

NEW SPY-SATELLITE CONSTELLATION BEGINS LAUNCH NEXT MONTH - The National Reconnaissance Office will soon launch the first group of satellites to begin building the spy agency’s future network of intelligence satellites. “We've already launched a number of demonstration satellites over the last few years to verify cost and performance….This launch will be the first launch of an actual operational system. This system will increase timeliness of access, diversity of communication pathways, and enhance our resilience,” said Troy Meink, the principal deputy director of the NRO.   More
(Source: Defense One - Apr 11)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET ON STARLINK MISSION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites during a mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 flight was the company’s 24th dedicated Starlink launch in 2024. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-48 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:40 a.m. EDT (0540 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 11)

MAX SPACE ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR INFLATABLE SPACE STATION MODULES - A startup has unveiled plans to develop inflatable modules that the company believes can be made larger and less expensive than alternatives, supporting commercial space stations and other applications. Max Space is developing a series of expandable modules, the first of which is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rideshare mission in 2025. That Max Space 20 module, compacted into a volume of two cubic meters for launch, will expand to 20 cubic meters after deployment, making it the largest expandable module flown to date.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 11)

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