ESA IS LAUNCHING TWO SATELLITES ON A WORLD-FIRST MISSION TO CREATE A MAN-MADE SOLAR ECLIPSE - ESA says the "Proba-3" mission will be the first to create an artificial eclipse in a bid to better understand solar weather. The recent total solar eclipse primarily seen in North America left tens of millions in awe. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) is working to create an artificial ecl... More (Source: Euronews.com - Apr 17)
NASA COMPLETES ANALYSIS OF RECOVERED SPACE OBJECT - In March 2021, NASA ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station following the delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost... More (Source: NASA - Apr 17)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH MAXAR WORLDVIEW LEGION 1 & 2 MISSION FOR LEADING RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY - These are the first two of six planned WorldView Legion satellites, which will enhance Maxar Intelligence’s constellation by delivering industry-leading resolution and accuracy. When all six WorldView Legion satellites are launched, it will triple Maxar Intelligence’s capacity to collect 30 cm-c... More (Source: SatNews - Apr 17)
DEAD SATELLITES ARE FILLING SPACE WITH TRASH. THAT COULD AFFECT EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD - A dead spacecraft the size of a truck ignites with plasma and pulverizes into dust and litter as it rips through the ionosphere and atmosphere. This is what happens to internet service satellites during re-entry. When the full mega-constellation of satellites is deployed in the 2030s, companies will... More (Source: The Guardian - Apr 17)
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 s... 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 fl... 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 cy... 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... 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 ambi... 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... 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 w... 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... 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 lau... More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 11)
ENDING AN ERA, FINAL DELTA 4 HEAVY BOOSTS CLASSIFIED SPY SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - Ending an era in U.S. rocketry, United Launch Alliance fired off its 16th and final triple-core Delta 4 Heavy Tuesday, launching a classified spy satellite in the last hurrah of a storied family of rockets dating back to the dawn of the space age. The Heavy's three hydrogen-fueled RS-68A first st... More (Source: CBS News - Apr 10)
STATION ORBITS INTO ECLIPSE, CREW WORKS RESEARCH AND SPACESUITS - The International Space Station soared into the Moon’s shadow during the solar eclipse on Monday afternoon. The Expedition 71 crew members had an opportunity to view the shadow at the end of their workday filled with cargo transfers, spacesuit maintenance, and microgravity research. The windows... More (Source: NASA - Apr 10)
HERE’S WHAT A SOLAR ECLIPSE LOOKS LIKE FROM SPACE - Few people get a better view of the Earth than those who are actually off the Earth—astronauts who can look down on our planet from above. They are the lucky handful who get to experience the so-called overview effect—the transcendent sense of seeing the world as the fragile biosphere it is, set... More (Source: TIME - Apr 9)
SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES 11 SATELLITES, INCLUDING ONE FOR SOUTH KOREA, ON BANDWAGON-1 RIDESHARE FLIGHT - SpaceX launched 11 satellites on its first-ever Bandwagon-1 class rideshare mission from Florida tonight (April 7) and aced an evening rocket landing just minutes later. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) tonight at 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 GMT), kicking off the 11-sat... More (Source: Space.com - Apr 8)
SPACEX BEGINS COMMERCIAL DIRECT TO CELL STARLINK CONSTELLATION WITH FALCON 9 FLIGHT FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE - For a second time this year, SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of Starlink satellites that support its Direct to Cell capability. The six spacecraft are among the 21 total satellites which launched on Saturday, April 6, from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket fr... More (Source: SpacFlight Now - Apr 7)
A SOYUZ CAPSULE CARRYING 3 CREW FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION LANDS SAFELY IN KAZAKHSTAN - A Russian space capsule with two women and one man safely landed in a steppe in Kazakhstan on Saturday after their missions aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-24 carrying Russia’s Oleg Novitsky, NASA's Loral O'Hara and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus touched down southeast of t... More (Source: NBC New York - Apr 6)
