POWERFUL NEW US-INDIAN SATELLITE WILL TRACK EARTH’S CHANGING SURFACE - The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission will measure the motion of nearly all of the planet’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days. The pace of NISAR’s data collection will give researchers a fuller picture of how Earth’s surface changes over time. “This kind of r... More (Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - Nov 9)
WE’RE ENTERING THE ERA OF PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS - Lockheed Martin’s Starlab is one of several currently proposed private space stations. The company hopes to have it built by 2027. Credit: Nanoracks The era of the International Space Station (ISS) is coming to a close. In the near future, NASA plans to bring down the station in a controlled ... More (Source: Astronomy Magazine - Nov 8)
CREW UNPACKS NEW STATION SCIENCE DELIVERED ABOARD DRAGON - New science experiments and research samples delivered aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on Tuesday are being installed today aboard the International Space Station. Meanwhile, more science and lab maintenance continued ensuring the upkeep of the orbital outpost. The four NASA astronauts ... More (Source: NASA - Nov 8)
SPACEX'S DRAGON IS ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING TO THE ISS IT'S NEVER DONE BEFORE - SpaceX will boost the space station for the first time Friday (Nov. 8), as the company prepares to eventually kill the orbiting complex. A Dragon cargo spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS) will fire its engines for 12.5 minutes on Friday (Nov. 8), NASA officials said at a pr... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 8)
SPACEX LAUNCHING 20 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CALIFORNIA EARLY NOV. 9 - SpaceX will launch 20 Starlink internet satellites from California early Saturday morning (Nov. 9). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft — 13 of which have direct-to-cell capability — is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday, during a four-hour windo... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 8)
RUSSIA SENDS 53 SATELLITES TO ORBIT ON RECORD-BREAKING LAUNCH - Russia launched 53 small satellites into orbit on Monday (Nov. 4), a mix of Russian and international spacecraft. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage lifted off from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East at 6:18 p.m. EST on Monday (2318 GMT; or 2:18 a.m. on Nov. 5 loca... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 8)
CARGO SHIP BRINGS SUPPLIES, SCIENCE GEAR AND HOLIDAY TREATS FOR SPACE STATION CREW - An unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo ship caught up with the International Space Station and glided in for a smooth docking on Tuesday — Election Day across the U.S. — bringing 3 tons of supplies, science gear and other equipment to the lab, including holiday treats for the crew. The Dragon's Fal... More (Source: CBS News - Nov 7)
SPACEX LAUNCHING 23 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA ON NOV. 7 - SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 7) from Florida's Space Coast. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday during a four-hour window that opens at 3... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 7)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES SOYUZ ROCKET WITH DOZENS OF SATELLITES, INCLUDING TWO FROM IRAN - Russia launched a Soyuz rocket early on Tuesday carrying two satellites designed to monitor the space weather around Earth and 53 small satellites, including two Iranian ones, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said. The Soyuz-2.1 launch spacecraft, which lifted off from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome,... More (Source: Reuters - Nov 6)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 31ST CARGO RESUPPLY MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION FOR NASA - SpaceX launched its 31st resupply mission to the International Space Station on Monday night. The mission, dubbed Commercial Resupply Services-31 (CRS-31) ferried more than 6,000 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the orbiting outpost. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 6)
WORLD’S FIRST WOODEN SATELLITE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE - The world’s first wooden satellite has been launched into space as part of study on using timber to help reduce the creation of space junk. Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn up when the device re-enters the atmosphere – potentially providing a way to avoid gene... More (Source: The Guardian - Nov 6)
SATELLITE SURVIVES IMPACT WITH OBJECT IN SPACE, TAKES SELFIE TO PROVE IT - A tiny puncture discovered in the solar panel of a small satellite orbiting Earth highlights the seriousness of the orbital clutter problem. Lithuania-based satellite manufacturer NanoAvionics discovered the 0.24-inch-wide (6-millimeter) hole in footage captured by an on-board camera of its MP42 ... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 6)
JAPAN LAUNCHES MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE ON 4TH FLIGHT OF H3 ROCKET - Japan's new H3 rocket flew for the fourth time ever on Monday morning (Nov. 4). The H3 launched Kirameki 3, a military communications satellite also known as DSN-3, from Tanegashima Space Center on Monday at 1:48 a.m. EST (0548 GMT; 3:48 p.m. local Japan time). The flight was apparently a succ... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 5)
CHINA SPACE STATION CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER 6 MONTHS IN SPACE - Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Monday after a six-month stay on the Tiangong space station, part of China's effort to be a global leader in space exploration. A parachute slowed their capsule's nighttime descent to a remote landing area in China's Inner Mongolia region. The crew em... More (Source: Phys.org - Nov 5)
HELIUM ISSUE ON FALCON 9 BOOSTER SCRUBS STARLINK 6-77 MISSION AT CAPE CANAVERAL - A helium-related issue on the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket scrubbed a launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sunday. The mission was set to add another batch of 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to SpaceX’s growing megaconstellation. The timing of the Starlink 6-77 mission fro... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 4)
WATCH SPACEX CREW-9 ASTRONAUTS MOVE CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT TO NEW ISS PARKING SPOT ON NOV. 3 - Four astronauts will relocate a SpaceX spacecraft at the space station on Sunday (Nov. 3), and you can watch the event live. The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts, including two crew members formerly aboard Boeing Starliner, will move their Crew Dragon at the International Space Station. ISS procedures di... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 3)
SATELLITES WATCH DEVASTATING FLOODS IN SPAIN FROM SPACE - Satellite images captured deadly flooding in eastern Spain caused by torrential rainfall on Tuesday (Oct. 29). Landsat and Maxar satellites imaged the damage, which came after the region experienced more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain, according to Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET. ... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 2)
INTERNATIONAL SWOT SATELLITE SPOTS PLANET-RUMBLING GREENLAND TSUNAMI - The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and France’s CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), detected the unique contours of a tsunami that sloshed within the steep walls of a fjord in Greenland in September 2023. Triggered ... More (Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - Nov 2)
HALLOWEEN ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Although no ghouls or goblins or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station’s front hatch, crew members aboard the orbiting facility still like to get in the Halloween spirit. Whether individually or as an entire crew, they dress up in sometimes spooky, sometimes scary, but... More (Source: NASA - Nov 2)
