NASA CANCELS CARGO LAUNCH TO ISS DUE TO DAMAGED CYGNUS SPACECRAFT - NASA has called off a planned cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a damaged spacecraft. The spacecraft is a robotic Cygnus freighter, built by the Virginia-based company Northrop Grumman. It had been scheduled to launch several tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the ISS from Florida's Space Coast this June. On March 5, however, NASA announced that Cygnus' shipping container sustained damage during the trip to the launch site. The agency had said mission teams would inspect the freighter over the coming days to determine if Cygnus itself was still intact. That work has now been completed — and there's some bad news. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 28)
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW DATA RELAY SATELLITE - China successfully sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday. The Tianlian II-04 satellite was launched at 23:55 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit. Tianlian II-04 is China's second-generation geosynchronous orbit data-relay satellite. More (Source: www.gov.cn - Mar 28)
U.S. SPACE FORCE CERTIFIES ULA’S VULCAN ROCKET TO BEGIN LAUNCHING NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS - In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan rocket is now fully certified to launch national security payloads. The completion of this multi-year process means that the USSF’s Space Systems Command can begin launching National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions on the two-stage, heavy-lift rocket. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 28)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX sent a batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket launch Wednesday afternoon. The flight tied the record for the most number of these types of satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to date. The Starlink 11-7 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 3:11 p.m. PDT (6:11 p.m. EDT, 2211 UTC). This was the 11th orbital launch from VSFB so far this year. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 28)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 8 WILDFIRE-HUNTING SATELLITES INTO ORBIT FROM NEW ZEALAND - Rocket Lab has launched its workhorse Electron rocket for the third time in two weeks. The New Zealand-based company successfully launched eight wildfire detection satellites on the "Finding Hot Wildfires Near You" mission for German-based company OroraTech today (March 26), from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch facility. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 27)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX is preparing to send a batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. This flight ties the record for the most number of these types of satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to date. The Starlink 11-7 mission is targeting a liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 3:11 p.m. PDT (6:11 p.m. EDT, 2211 UTC). This will be the 11th orbital launch from VSFB so far this year. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 27)
US SPACE FORCE CELEBRATES RETURN OF 1ST GUARDIAN TO LAUNCH TO SPACE - U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague is back on Earth after living on the International Space Station (ISS) for the last five-plus months. On March 18, Hague splashed down in the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule "Freedom" with fellow NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague holds the distinction of being the first Space Force Guardian to launch into orbit. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 27)
U.S. SPACE FORCE CERTIFIES ULA’S VULCAN ROCKET TO BEGIN LAUNCHING NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS - In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan rocket is now fully certified to launch national security payloads. The completion of this multi-year process means that the USSF’s Space Systems Command can begin launching National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions on the two-stage, heavy-lift rocket. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 27)
SPIRAL IN THE SKY LIKELY TO BE FROM SPACEX LAUNCH - A large glowing spiral visible in the night sky on Monday is believed to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launch in the US. The Met Office said the shape was likely produced by a frozen plume of fuel from the rocket's exhaust, which reflected the sunlight and appeared to spin in the atmosphere. The cloud-like shape was visible for several minutes above the UK and elsewhere in Europe before fading. More (Source: BBC - Mar 26)
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