SPACEX TO LAUNCH 22 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CALIFORNIA EARLY JAN. 11 AFTER DELAYS - SpaceX is set to launch yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 3:59 a.m. EST (0859 GMT; 12:59 a.m. local time in California). The mission was initially scheduled to launch on Jan. 9. You can watch the launch via SpaceX's account on X. Coverage will begin about five minutes before the launch.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 11)

LAUNCH ROUNDUP: AXIOM-3 CREW AND TIANZHOU 7 CARGO SPACE STATION MISSIONS THIS WEEK - A pair of missions to space stations headline the launches for the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 17. Axiom-3 will be flying four private astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), becoming the first crew launch of 2024. Crew Dragon Freedom will fly from Florida, with a multinational crew, for a mission to the Station lasting around two weeks. The Tianzhou 7 cargo spacecraft headed for the Chinese Space Station Tiangong is also flying this week, and Japan is launching a military reconnaissance satellite aboard one of its last H-IIA rockets. In addition, the Gravity-1 rocket developed by the Chinese firm OrienSpace is making its maiden flight. Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1, Starlink 7-10, and Starlink 6-37 are also now on the schedule for this week.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 10)

CHINA SATELLITE LAUNCH PROMPTS TAIWAN ATTACK ALERT AHEAD OF PIVOTAL VOTE - Taiwan's government issued an air raid alert on Tuesday, saying a Chinese rocket carrying a satellite had flown over its southern airspace, which Taiwan's foreign minister described as part of a pattern of harassment days before a pivotal election. The island-wide security alert was sent by the defence ministry to mobile phone users in Taiwan after 3 p.m. (0700 GMT), around the same time Chinese state media confirmed the launch of a science satellite.   More
(Source: Reuters - Jan 10)

ROCKET LAB TO BUILD MILITARY SATELLITES FOR SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY - The Space Development Agency awarded Rocket Lab $515 million to build 18 data transport satellites. The company joins Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, who received awards in August to develop 36 satellites each. The spacecraft are part of the third generation — dubbed Tranche 2 — of SDA’s Proliferated Warfigher Space Architecture, a fleet of hundreds of small satellites operating in low Earth orbit, about 1,200 miles above the planet’s surface.   More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Jan 9)

ULA MARKS SUCCESS WITH THE INAUGURAL MISSION OF ITS VULCAN ROCKET LAUNCHING A MOON-BOUND ROBOTIC LANDER - With the company’s future riding on it, United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket successfully put a commercial robotic lander on course for the Moon after lifting off from Cape Canaveral’s pad 41 at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 UTC). This mission was the first certification flight of Vulcan, an important proving ground for the first launch vehicle developed by ULA since it was established in 2006. The milestone comes roughly a decade after the rocket was first announced.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 8)

VULCAN ON THE PAD FOR ITS FIRST LAUNCH - After a decade of development, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket is finally on the launch pad for its inaugural launch, carrying not just a lunar lander but also the company’s future. ULA rolled out its first Vulcan rocket to the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Jan. 5, ahead of a launch scheduled for 2:18 a.m. Eastern Jan. 8. The rocket’s primary payload is Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 8)

INDIA’S FIRST SOLAR OBSERVATORY REACHES DESTINATION - India has achieved another milestone in space exploration by successfully placing a spacecraft in an orbit from which it will study the sun for five years. India joined a select group of nations already studying the sun four months after it became the first country to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon's southern polar region, cementing its reputation as a nation that is emerging on the frontlines of space exploration.   More
(Source: VOA News - Jan 8)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Sunday (Jan. 7). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. EST (2235 GMT). To plan, the Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, touching down on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 8)

NASA ADDS FUNDING TO BLUE ORIGIN AND VOYAGER SPACE COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION AGREEMENTS - NASA has added milestones and funding to agreements with two companies working on commercial space station concepts using money from a third agreement that ended last year. NASA announced Jan. 5 that it added a combined $99.5 million in funding to existing Space Act Agreements with Blue Origin and Voyager Space. The two companies received the original agreements in December 2021 as part of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations, or CLD, program to spur development of commercial space stations intended to succeed the International Space Station.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 7)

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