ROSKOSMOS LAUNCHES KONDOR-FKA2 RADAR IMAGER - A Soyuz-2 rocket lifted off from Vostochny Cosmodrome on Nov. 30, 2023, carrying the Kondor FKA No. 2 radar satellite. It was the fifth mission to orbit an all-weather, day-and-night imaging spacecraft from the Kondor family, counting one previous FKA variant, one classified military version, known ... More (Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 1)
LANDMARK SPACE MISSION SET TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL SOLAR ECLIPSES USING SATELLITES - Two satellites in Proba-3 mission expected to be launched on Wednesday in India and will work in tandem to study sun’s corona. Final preparations have begun for a landmark space mission that will use satellites flying in close formation to create artificial solar eclipses high above the Earth. ... More (Source: The Guardian - Dec 1)
CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST LONG MARCH 12 FROM NEW COMMERCIAL SPACEPORT IN BOOST FOR COUNTRY’S LUNAR PLANS - China launched its first Long March 12 rocket Saturday, marking an advance in its crewed moon plans and the debut of a new spaceport that will boost the country’s access to space. The two-stage, 62-meter-tall Long March 12 lifted off at 9:25 a.m. Eastern (1425 UTC) Nov. 30 from the Wenchang Com... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES COMBINATION OF NRO STARSHIELD AND STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 FLIGHT - SpaceX launched a mission early Saturday that blends national security satellites with those supporting its non-governmental Starlink satellite network. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, occurred at 12:10 a.m. PST (3:10 a.m. EST, 0810 UT... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 24 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX completed the first of its two final Falcon 9 launches of November, using launch pads in both Florida and California. The Starlink 6-65 mission, which will add another 24 Starlink satellites to the company’s rapidly growing mega-constellation, lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Spa... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM SPACE! WHAT TURKEY DAY DINNER LOOKS LIKE FOR NASA ASTRONAUTS ON ISS - The four NASA astronauts currently living on the International Space Station (ISS) just wished all of us all a happy Thanksgiving. Nick Hague, Don Pettit, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have beamed home a Turkey Day message from their orbital perch, which NASA released on Wednesday (Nov. 27).... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 30)
YOU CAN TAKE A SELFIE WITH THE EARTH USING THIS YOUTUBER’S SATELLITE - The stunt escalation on YouTube may have reached new heights with Mark Rober’s offer to snap anyone’s selfie with the planet Earth using a satellite he’s launching into orbit with the help of Google and T-Mobile. Rober is a former NASA engineer who made a name for himself on YouTube by glit... More (Source: The Verge - Nov 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHING 24 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA EARLY NOV. 30 - SpaceX plans to launch 24 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Space Coast early Saturday morning (Nov. 30). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday during a four-hour window that opens at 12... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 30)
CHINA TO LAUNCH NEXT-GENERATION BEIDOU SATELLITES IN 2027 - China has announced a strategic roadmap for advancing its Beidou positioning and navigation system by 2035, in a move which could have global implications. The country plans to complete key technology research for the next-generation Beidou system by 2025 and launch three test satellites around 2... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 29)
ASTRONAUT CATCHES DEXTRE SPACE ROBOT 'BUSTING A MOVE' OUTSIDE ISS — FOR SCIENCE - A space robot was just caught in action during a science experiment, high above Earth. NASA astronaut Don Pettit took a short video of a Canadian handy-robot on the International Space Station (ISS). The long-running Dextre robot from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was moving a science payload o... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 28)
ROCKET LAB SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES TWO MISSIONS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS - Rocket Lab USA has successfully launched its 56 th Electron mission, deploying five satellites to Low Earth Orbit for French Internet-of-Things (IoT) constellation operator Kinéis. The “Ice AIS Baby” mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand at 4:55 pm on 25 N... More (Source: Satellite Evolution - Nov 27)
SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, SpaceX launched its lates batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites on the Starlink 6-76 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 11:41 p.m. EST (0441 UTC on Nov. 27). The rock... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 27)
'UNEXPECTED ODOR' ON RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT DELAYS CARGO DELIVERY FOR ISS ASTRONAUTS - Astronauts found an "unexpected odor" after trying to open the door to a new cargo spacecraft at the space station, according to NASA. A Russian Progress spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on Saturday (Nov. 23) at the Russian Poisk module after its launch on Nov. 21. But astrona... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 27)
HOW AMATEUR RADIO IS CONNECTING ASTRONAUTS IN SPACE WITH KIDS ON EARTH - Consider this: It is now four decades ago that astronaut Owen Garriott, callsign W5LFL, pioneered amateur radio communication from space. He was a crewmember on the space shuttle program's STS-9 mission. During that space shuttle flight in 1983, Garriott became the first-ever person in space to c... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 26)
SPACE DELIVERY ARRIVES AT STATION ABOARD PROGRESS CARGO CRAFT - The unpiloted Progress 90 spacecraft arrived at the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 9:31 a.m. EST, Saturday, Nov. 23. The spacecraft launched at 7:22 a.m. (5:22 p.m. Baikonur time) Nov. 21, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ... More (Source: NASA - Nov 26)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES ON THE 400TH FALCON 9 ROCKET - Against the backdrop of a characteristically foggy night at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, SpaceX launched its 400th Falcon 9 rocket on an orbital flight. The Starlink 9-13 mission also marked SpaceX’s 100th launch to date from the West Coast. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E)... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 26)
CHINA LAUNCHES PAIR OF SUPERVIEW NEO-2 RADAR SATELLITES - China launched a pair of radar satellites late Sunday for a state-owned firm building a 28-satellite remote sensing constellation. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off at 6:39 p.m. Eastern, Nov. 24 (2339 UTC) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Insulation tiles fell from the rocket’s upper stage... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 26)
RUSSIAN SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES SUPPLIES TO ISS ON 90TH PROGRESS CARGO SPACECRAFT - A Russian cargo spacecraft launched toward the space station on Thursday morning (Nov. 21). A Soyuz rocket launched the uncrewed Progress 90 spacecraft to the International Space Station on Thursday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:22 a.m. EST (1222 GMT; 5:22 p.m. local time in Kazakhs... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 22)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FIRES THRUSTERS TO DODGE HUNK OF SPACE DEBRIS - The International Space Station took some evasive action on Tuesday (Nov. 19). A Russian Progress cargo ship that's docked to the ISS fired its thrusters for 5.5 minutes on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 3:09 p.m. EST (2009 GMT). The goal was to make sure the orbiting complex dodged a potentially... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 22)
