SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA EARLY ON JULY 3 AFTER DELAY - SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (July 3), following a two-hour delay. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space For... More (Source: Space.com - Jul 4)
RUSSIA PLANS TO CREATE CORE OF NEW SPACE STATION BY 2030 - Russia is aiming to create the four-module core of its planned new orbital space station by 2030, its Roscosmos space agency said on Tuesday. The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, signed off on the timetable with the directors of 19 enterprises involved in creating the new station. The agency confi... More (Source: Reuters - Jul 4)
NEW SATELLITE TO SHOW HOW AI ADVANCES EARTH OBSERVATION - Artificial intelligence technologies have achieved remarkable successes and continue to show their value as backbones in scientific research and real-world applications. ESA’s new Φsat-2 mission, launching in the coming weeks, will push the boundaries of AI for Earth observation – demonstrat... More (Source: European Space Agency - Jul 3)
NASA INVITES MEDIA TO NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S 21ST STATION RESUPPLY LAUNCH - Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency and will launch on a SpaceX Falco... More (Source: NASA - Jul 3)
GROUND EQUIPMENT ISSUE SCRUBS FIREFLY’S 5TH ALPHA LAUNCH OF 8 CUBESATS FOR NASA - A last minute ground systems issue kept Firefly Aerospace grounded as it prepared to launch its fifth Alpha rocket on its first mission with NASA as the customer. When it launches, the two-stage, 29.48 meter (96.7-foot) tall rocket will send eight CubeSats from multiple universities and NASA centers... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 2)
NASA ASTRONAUTS TO EXTEND SPACE STATION STAY AS ENGINEERS TROUBLESHOOT BOEING CAPSULE - Two NASA astronauts will stay longer at the International Space Station as engineers troubleshoot problems on Boeing’s new space capsule that cropped up on the trip there. NASA on Friday did not set a return date until testing on the ground was complete and said the astronauts were safe. “... More (Source: NPR - Jul 1)
JAPAN LAUNCHES ADVANCED EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE ON 3RD FLIGHT OF H3 ROCKET - apan's new H3 rocket flew for the third time ever tonight (June 30). The H3 launched the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-4 (ALOS-4; also known as DAICHI-4) from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center tonight, rising off the pad at 11:06 p.m. EDT (0306 GMT and 12:06 p.m. Japan Standard Time on July 1)... More (Source: Space.com - Jul 1)
UARIZONA'S FIRST SATELLITE BUILT BY STUDENTS IS READY FOR LAUNCH - CatSat is a small satellite, also known as a CubeSat. The project kickoff was in 2016. For the past several years, students suited up in lab coats, hairnets and masks to meticulously wire up the satellite inside a clean room in the university's Drake Building. Henley and Rahmer were part of the CatS... More (Source: University of Arizona News - Jun 30)
EUMETSAT MOVES WEATHER SATELLITE FROM ARIANE 6 TO FALCON 9 - European weather satellite operator Eumetsat has shifted the upcoming launch of a weather satellite from an Ariane 6 to a Falcon 9, a move that surprised and frustrated European space officials. In a statement late June 28, Eumetsat said the Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) geostation... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 2ND BATCH OF NEXT-GEN US SPY SATELLITES - SpaceX launched another set of U.S. spy satellites tonight (June 28). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight at 11:14 p.m. EDT (8:14 p.m. local California time; 0314 GMT on June 29). The ... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES, LANDS FALCON 9 ROCKET ON RECORD 22ND FLIGHT - SpaceX launched 23 of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit today, marking a new milestone in the company's reusability mission. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:14 a.m. EDT (1114 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Aboard the ... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 29)
STARLINER LANDING NOW ON INDEFINITE HOLD FOR MORE TESTS, BUT NASA INSISTS CREW NOT ‘STRANDED’ IN SPACE - The return to Earth of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is on indefinite hold pending results of new thruster tests and ongoing analysis of helium leaks that cropped up during the ship’s rendezvous with the International Space Station, NASA announced Friday. But agency officials insisted Starliner ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 29)
RUSSIAN SATELLITE BREAKS UP, CREATING DEBRIS IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - A Russian satellite in low Earth orbit broke up June 26, creating more than 100 pieces of trackable debris and briefly causing the International Space Station crew to take shelter. The satellite, Resurs P1, suffered some kind of event at around 12 p.m. Eastern June 26, U.S Space Command (USSPACEC... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 28)
NASA SELECTS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION US DEORBIT VEHICLE - NASA is fostering continued scientific, educational, and technological developments in low Earth orbit to benefit humanity, while also supporting deep space exploration at the Moon and Mars. As the agency transitions to commercially owned space destinations closer to home, it is crucial to prepare f... More (Source: NASA - Jun 28)
SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS THREATEN OZONE LAYER RECOVERY, STUDY CONFIRMS - Concentrations of ozone-damaging aluminum oxides in Earth's atmosphere could increase by 650% in the coming decades due to a rise in the number of defunct satellites burning up during reentry, a first-of-a-kind study has found. And, as satellite megaconstellations continue to pique the interests of ... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 27)
NASA ASTRONAUTS STUCK WAITING ABOARD ISS TO RETURN TO EARTH AMID ISSUES WITH BOEING'S STARLINER - Two NASA astronauts have no set date to return to Earth and are stuck waiting aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to several mechanical issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Starliner launched on June 5 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with... More (Source: ABC News - Jun 27)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FINAL NOAA GOES WEATHER SATELLITE ON FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - The finale in a series of critical weather satellites for the United States surmounted some weather challenges as it began its journey to join its three fellow satellites on orbit. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-U (GOES-U) satellite is designed to provide critical weather, cl... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 26)
NASA CANCELS ISS SPACEWALK DUE TO SPACESUIT COOLANT LEAK - NASA cancelled a spacewalk at the International Space Station today (June 24) following a spacesuit coolant leak in the hatch. NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mike Barratt were told by Mission Control at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT) to stop the planned 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the Internat... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 26)
FIREFLY TO LAUNCH ALPHA FROM WALLOPS - Firefly Aerospace announced June 24 it plans to launch its Alpha rocket from the same pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, used by the Antares rocket, rather than from Cape Canaveral as previously planned. The company said that it would use Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wall... More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 25)
