NEW GALILEO SATELLITES OPERATIONAL AFTER SUCCESSFUL IN-ORBIT TESTING - Three months after their launch from Cape Canaveral, Galileo satellites 29 and 30 have reached their target positions at an altitude of 23,222 km, where they have been fully tested and declared operational. Both satellites have been deployed on the same orbital plane, one of the three that make u... More (Source: Phys.org - Sep 7)
SPACEX LAUNCHES NEXT-GEN US SPY SATELLITES ON 2ND LEG OF SPACEFLIGHT DOUBLEHEADER - SpaceX continues to keep busy. One of the company's Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight (Sept. 5) at 11:20 p.m. EDT (8:20 p.m. local California time; 0320 GMT on Sept. 6 ), sending a batch of next-gen spy satellites aloft for the U.S. National Reconna... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 7)
DISPATCH FROM THE CARBON MAPPER SATELLITE LAUNCH - The best things in life are worth waiting for. And after five years in the making, we have one more thing to add to this list: the launch of Carbon Mapper Coalition’s first (hopefully, of many) methane- and CO2-sensing satellite. The satellite, Tanager-1, built by Planet Labs with state-of-the-art... More (Source: RMI - Sep 7)
NEW SATELLITE TO IMAGE THE EARTH AND STRENGTHEN EUROPE’S COPERNICUS PROGRAMME - The third satellite in the Copernicus Sentinel 2 mission, Sentinel-2C will generate valuable images and data to help respond to natural disasters, monitor pollution and inform action on climate change. The Sentinels are a fleet of satellites that look down on the planet and gather vast quantitie... More (Source: GOV.UK - Sep 6)
NASA TO SUPPORT DARPA ROBOTIC SATELLITE SERVICING PROGRAM - NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have signed an interagency agreement to collaborate on a satellite servicing demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital functions.... More (Source: NASA - Sep 6)
USED SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES 7,001ST STARLINK SATELLITE (AND 20 OTHERS), LANDS AT SEA - A SpaceX rocket carrying a new batch of Starlink internet satellites launched into orbit from Florida today (Sept. 5), then returned to Earth in a flawless landing. The used Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites from a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and landed on a... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 6)
ESA COMPLETES SWAN SONG OF ITS VEGA ROCKET WITH SENTINEL-2C LAUNCH - The European Space Agency (ESA) completed its transition to its Vega-C rocket with the final launch of its first-generation Vega rocket. The mission, dubbed VV24, carried an Earth-imaging satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit. Liftoff of the 22nd and final Vega rocket happened Wednesday, Sept. 4, ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 5)
SPACEX ROCKET TO LAUNCH NEW STARLINK SATELLITE FLEET ON SEPT. 5 AFTER DELAY - SpaceX will launch a new batch of its Starlink satellites into orbit on Thursday (Sept. 5) after a one-day delay due to weather and you'll be able to watch it live online. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 21 Starlink internet satellites to space from the company's Space Launch Complex 40 pad ... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 5)
ASTRONAUTS STUCK ON SPACE STATION WILL BE BROUGHT BACK HOME BY SPACE FORCE GUARDIAN - A Space Force officer will command a mission later this month to safely bring home two astronauts who have been unexpectedly stuck aboard the International Space Station, or ISS, marking the first time a Guardian will launch into space for such a high-profile operation. Col. Nick Hague, an active... More (Source: Military.com - Sep 5)
ESA SCRUBS SWAN SONG LAUNCH OF ITS VEGA ROCKET DUE TO “ELECTRICAL ISSUES” - The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to complete its transition to its Vega-C rocket with the final launch of its first-generation Vega rocket. The mission, dubbed VV24, will carry an Earth-imaging satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit. Update 6:41 p.m. EDT: Arianespace announced that t... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 4)
LAUNCH ROUNDUP: VEGA SET TO BE RETIRED; POLARIS DAWN SET FOR NEW LAUNCH ATTEMPT - This week, rockets will launch from all over the globe. To start the week, China’s CASC is sending a Chang Zheng 4B on what could be its 50th successful mission. The final launch of Arianespace’s Vega rocket is set to take place on Tuesday, and Polaris Dawn is expected to launch four private ast... More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 3)
FINAL JOURNEY FOR FINLAND’S FIRST SATELLITE: AALTO-1’S HISTORIC MISSION COMES TO AN END - Finland’s pioneering satellite, Aalto-1, is set to make its final pass over the country today, marking the end of a remarkable seven-year journey in space. The satellite, which was the first to be registered in Finland’s space registry, will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, clo... More (Source: Helsinki Times - Sep 3)
SPACEX LAUNCHES BACK-TO-BACK FALCON 9 ROCKETS WITHIN 65 MINUTES AND ACES 2 LANDINGS DAYS AFTER A FAILED BOOSTER TOUCHDOWN - SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 rockets in just over an hour early Saturday (Aug. 31) and nailed back-to-back booster landings three days after a recent failure. The two Falcon 9 launches — which lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and California's Vandenberg Space Force B... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 2)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 RETURN TO FLIGHT MISSION - After shuffling the launch schedule a bit, SpaceX kicked off back-to-back launches from both coasts in the span of a little more than an hour. The company first launched the Starlink 8-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, before it launched another flight of Starlink satellites from ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 1)
NASA BUMPS TWO ASTRONAUTS FROM SPACEX FLIGHT TO MAKE ROOM FOR STARLINER CREW - NASA has bumped two female astronauts, including the commander, from the next SpaceX crew rotation flight to the international space station, freeing up two seats to give the agency’s Starliner astronauts a ride home next February. Crew 9 commander Zena Cardman, a space rookie, and veteran Step... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 31)
BOEING'S 1ST CREWED STARLINER TO RETURN TO EARTH WITHOUT ASTRONAUTS ON SEPT. 6 - Boeing's Starliner capsule now has a homecoming date. NASA announced this evening (Aug. 29) that Starliner will depart the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than next Friday (Sept. 6), provided the weather cooperates and no technical issues pop up. If all goes according to plan, the... More (Source: Space.com - Aug 31)
TO EARTH IN FLAMES: ESA TO STUDY SATELLITE RE-ENTRY - As the saying goes, what comes up must come down - and the same can be said of satellites. While there's lots of research that goes into launching satellites into Earth's orbit, there's not so much on how they eventually plop back down to Earth. This could all change now as scientists from the... More (Source: BBC - Aug 30)
SPACEX PLANS NROL-113 LAUNCH OF RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES FOR SECRET GOVERNMENT MISSION - Monday, September 2, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 will launch the third batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities. The launch will occur at 6:56 PM ... More (Source: SatNews - Aug 30)
GALACTIC ENERGY LAUNCHES SIX SATELLITES WITH THIRD SEA LAUNCH - China’s Galactic Energy conducted its third Ceres-1 solid rocket sea launch Thursday, successfully sending six satellites into orbit. The Ceres-1 lifted off from a transport erector launcher on a mobile sea platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, at 1:22 a.m. Eastern (0522 UTC) Au... More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 30)
