USAF SPY SPACECRAFT CHANGES ORBIT AGAIN - The X-37B prototype space plane that was launched by the United States Air Force (USAF) earlier this year has changed orbit again, forcing amateur astronomers in a frenzy to locate it again. This has been their goal ever since the USAF launched the hush-hush project, details of which are classified. Satellite trackers and backyard astronomers have been scouring the skies for the plane. The Boeing-designed X-37B spacecraft is an unmanned robot, which is capable of remaining in Earth's orbit for prolonged periods of time. It was launched this April 22.    More
(Source: Softpedia - Oct 13)

JAPAN TO BUILD THIRD SATELLITE - Japan will build a backup satellite to take over if a malfunction occurs in a pair of radar satellites now under construction, officials said. The backup satellite will probably be launched in 2014, and would give Japan three fully operable orbiting radar satellites, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Japan's two intelligence-gathering satellites have broken down, and their replacements won't be orbited until 2011 and 2012, the report said.    More
(Source: UPI.com - Oct 11)

DIGITAL SOYUZ ARRIVES AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - An upgraded Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and a veteran shuttle commander docked with the International Space Station Saturday evening after a two-day orbital chase, boosting the lab's crew back to six. Astronaut Scott Kelly's teenage daughter, Samantha, celebrating her birthday in Moscow, promptly asked her dad for an iPhone "so I can keep up with your trip." "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," Kelly replied from orbit during a call from the Russian mission control center.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 11)

SHUTTLE PROGRAM ASSIGNS NOV. 1 LAUNCH DATE - NASA space shuttle program managers approved a Nov. 1 launch date for the 11-day STS-133 mission aboard the shuttle Discovery, following a Oct. 6 review of mission preparations. John Shannon, the shuttle program manager, received a unanimous “go” from the team members to continue with launch preparations. NASA will host an agency-wide Flight Readiness Review on Oct. 25 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to set a formal launch date. The FRR will assess the readiness of the International Space Station as well as Discovery for the STS-133 flight.    More
(Source: Aviation Week - Oct 9)

THREE MEN PREPARE FOR BLASTOFF TO THE SPACE STATION - Russian engineers readied an upgraded Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft for launch Thursday evening from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to ferry a veteran shuttle commander and two cosmonauts to the International Space Station. If all goes well, the trio will join the two-man one-woman Expedition 25 crew aboard the lab complex late Saturday, boosting the station's crew back to six.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 9)

FOR LAST SHUTTLE MISSION, SEND YOUR FACE UP IN SPACE - People from all over the world are signing up to fly on one of the last two scheduled space shuttle missions. No training is necessary to be a virtual member of the STS- 133 or STS-134 crew. "The general public has supported us through all of this, the good times and the bad times and we wanted a way to have them be a part of the last scheduled mission," says NASA's Debbie Byerly. Byerly came up with the idea that is known as Faces in Space. Anyone can go to the website, where you are instructed to upload a picture.    More
(Source: CNN.com - Oct 8)

EUTELSAT W3B SATELLITE SCHEDULED FOR OCT. 28 LAUNCH - Paris based Eutelsat (News - Alert) is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. The company boasts of a capacity of 26 commercialized satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas. Through a recent press release, Eutelsat announced that its W3B Satellite is ready for the Oct. 28 Ariane launch.   More
(Source: TMC Net - Oct 8)

EUROPEAN SATELLITE 'BLINDED' BY RADIO INTERFERENCE - The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday that it had launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to shut down illicit radio and TV transmissions interfering with a major climate satellite. The 315-million-euro (434-million-dollar) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) probe "has been bugged by patches of interference from radar, TV and radio transmissions in what should be a protected band," ESA complained.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Oct 7)

SPACE TRAFFIC JAM DELAYS FINAL SHUTTLE LAUNCH A DAY - A looming traffic jam in space has caused NASA to push back the planned launch date for the final voyage of the space shuttle Endeavour by one day. Endeavour is now slated to lift off toward the International Space Station Feb. 27, 2011 a day later than previously planned to allow another spaceship time to arrive at the orbiting laboratory. The fuel tank for Endeavour's last flight arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month.    More
(Source: msnbc.com - Oct 6)

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