STARSHIP UPPER STAGE LOST IN SECOND MISHAP IN A ROW - SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program’s eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and for the second flight in a row, the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude and broke apart in a shower of debris. “Obviously, a lot to go through, a lot to dig through. We’re going to go right at it,” said SpaceX launch commentator Dan Huot. “The primary reason we do these flight tests is to learn. We have some more to learn about this vehicle, but we’re going to be right back here in the not-too-distant future, and we’re going to get a ship to space.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 7)

ISS ASTRONAUTS REJECT CALL FOR EARLY RETIREMENT OF THE STATION - Astronauts on the International Space Station said they disagreed with Elon Musk’s claim that the station was past its prime and should be deorbited in as soon as two years. Speaking to reporters March 4, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the station since June on a flawed Starliner test flight, and Nick Hague, the commander of the Crew-9 mission that will bring the two back with him later this month, addressed political issues like an early retirement of the ISS and Musk’s claim he offered NASA an early return of the Starliner crew.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 7)

NASA’S SPACEX CREW-9 SCIENTIFIC MISSION ON SPACE STATION CONCLUDES - NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with agency astronauts Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is preparing to return to Earth following their science mission aboard the International Space Station. Hague, Williams, and Wilmore completed more than 900 hours of research between over 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.   More
(Source: NASA - Mar 7)

APEX’S FIRST SATELLITE MARKS ONE YEAR IN ORBIT - The first spacecraft built by satellite manufacturing startup Apex continues to work well after a year in orbit as the company leverages that experience for future spacecraft. The Aries SN1 spacecraft launched last March on the SpaceX Transporter-10 rideshare mission. The spacecraft was a demonstration of the design of the Aries spacecraft, which can accommodate 150 kilograms of payload, and was also used by several customers that included Anduril and Booz Allen Hamilton.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 6)

AS SATELLITE COLLISION RISKS INCREASE, EPHEMERIS SHARING IS VITAL - As the number of satellites in LEO continues to grow exponentially, when it comes to a satellite’s location, sharing is caring. Varying predictions have the satellite population in LEO increasing by two- to six-fold by the end of this decade. That is a phenomenal growth rate that will provide an abundance of new services and capabilities here on Earth, but it is not without consequences. More sats zooming around means more collision warnings and more maneuvering in orbit—something companies could help avoid by sharing precise location data with other operators.   More
(Source: - Mar 5)

STRANDED US ASTRONAUTS EXPECTED TO RETURN HOME AFTER NINE MONTHS IN SPACE - Two NASA astronauts are expected to come home this month after being stranded in space since June. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission, but their return was complicated when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft was deemed unsafe for the journey home.   More
(Source: ABC News - Mar 5)

SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER ISSUE CAUSES SCRUB OF SPACEX’S STARSHIP FLIGHT 8 - SpaceX had to stand down from the launch of its latest Starship test flight from its Starbase facility in southern Texas on Monday, March 3. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the okay for the company to move forward with the mission on Feb. 26. Less than 30 minutes before the planned launch at 5:45 p.m. CST (6:45 p.m. EST, 2345 UTC), commentator Dan Huot noted that engineers were working an issue that might cause a hold at T-40 seconds. That issue did cause a hold to go into place for more than five minutes.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 4)

ARIANESPACE SCRUBS ARIANE 6’S FIRST COMMERCIAL LAUNCH DUE TO GROUND SYSTEMS ISSUE - Airanespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) had to stand down from the planned launch of the first Ariane 6 rocket of the year and the second in program history on Monday, March 3. David Cavaillolès, the CEO of Arianespace, confirmed there was a ground systems issue that prevented the launch, but wasn’t able to provide additional details, according to Frédéric Castel, an aerospace reporter covering the launch for Spaceflight Now in French Guiana.   More
(Source: SpoaceFlight Now - Mar 4)

THE MODERN ERA OF LOW-FLYING SATELLITES MAY BEGIN THIS WEEK - The idea of flying satellites in "very" low-Earth orbit is not new. Dating back to the dawn of the space age in the late 1950s, the first US spy satellites, as part of the Corona program, orbited the planet as low as 120 to 160 km (75 to 100 miles) above the Earth. This low vantage point allowed the Kodak cameras on board the Corona satellites to capture the highest-resolution images of Earth during the height of the Cold War. However, flying so close to the planet brought a number of challenges, most notably that of atmospheric drag.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Mar 4)

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