JAPAN IS QUIETLY BUILDING A 100-SATELLITE SOVEREIGN EYE IN THE SKY - Japan’s IHI Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish startup Kuva Space to explore building next-generation hyperspectral satellites for Tokyo’s sovereign Earth observation constellation, marking the latest foreign partnership stitched into a program that increasingly reads as a hedge against strategic surveillance dependence on Washington. More (Source: Space Daily - Jul 22)
SPACEX LAUNCHES SATELLITE REPAIR DRONE WITH 10-FOOT ROBOTIC ARMS TO EARTH ORBIT - SpaceX launched a trailblazing satellite-servicing mission today (July 21). A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 GMT). SpaceX called today's launch MRV-MEV, because it's sending up a Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs). These spacecraft will be operated by SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Virginia-based aerospace giant Northrop Grumman. More (Source: - Jul 22)
SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK MISSION FROM CALIFORNIA A DAY AFTER LAST-SECOND ABORT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two dozen Starlink V2 Mini broadband internet satellites to its massive low Earth orbit constellation on Tuesday, a day after liftoff was scrubbed by a rare abort during engine ignition. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California came at 7:49 a.m. PDT (10:49 a.m. EDT / 1449 UTC). The first launch attempt for the Starlink 17-39 mission ended as the countdown clock hit zero when an issue popped up during the ignition sequence. All nine Merlin 1D engines appeared to ignite but then shutdown in a flash of fire and smoke. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 22)
NASA SETS BRIEFINGS FOR SPACEX CREW-13 MISSION TO SPACE STATION - NASA and its partners will discuss the upcoming crew rotation mission to the International Space Station during a pair of news conferences on Monday, Aug. 3, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Mission leadership will provide an overview of NASA’s SpaceX Crew‑13 mission at 12 p.m. EDT. Next, crew members will discuss their training and mission preparations at 2 p.m. This is Crew-13’s final media availability prior to traveling to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch. More (Source: NASA - Jul 21)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES SECOND SATELLITE BATCH FOR ITS STARLINK RIVAL—THE MATH STILL LOOKS ROUGH - Russian company Bureau 1440 has launched a second group of communications satellites for Rassvet, Moscow’s planned low-Earth-orbit alternative to Starlink. The spacecraft successfully separated from their launch vehicle and established contact with the mission control center, the developer reported on July 20. More (Source: UNITED24 Media - Jul 21)
SPACEX SUFFERS RARE, LAST-SECOND FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH ABORT - SpaceX suffered its second launch scrub in less than a week after its Falcon 9 rocket failed to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday. On-screen telemetry graphics showed all nine Merlin engines briefly ignited before quickly shutting down. SpaceX ended its broadcast prior to offering an explanation and didn’t immediately share further details on social media. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 21)
AN ARTIFICIAL 'SATURN'S RING' OF SATELLITES COULD SOON FILL THE SKY, ASTRONOMERS WARN - A bright "Saturn's ring" of satellites could circle the night sky if plans to launch a million data center spacecraft and tens of thousands of space mirrors come to pass. This ring, traversing the sky for hours after dusk and before dawn, would outshine every star and planet, and be visible from every spot on Earth. Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics at the University of Birmingham in, the U.K., told Space.com that the only way to accommodate the high number of data center constellations that have been proposed is to stack them above another in orbit above the boundary between day and night, creating an artificial "Saturn's Ring" of satellites around the planet. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 21)
SWEDEN READIES FIRST SAR SATELLITE LAUNCH, EYES MORE SPACECRAFT - Sweden aims to launch its first Iceye synthetic aperture radar before year-end as part of an accelerated push to field what is expected to be a growing fleet with Earth observation capabilities, says the Swedish Armed Forces' space chief. Sweden initially planned to field Earth observation capabilities in the 2030 timeframe, but pushed that up four years given the “severe security situation,” says Rear Adm. Anders Sundeman, who has the odd distinction of being the only admiral in the Swedish Air Force which oversees space issues in the military. More (Source: Aviation Week - Jul 20)
DIAMONDS AND 'CAB TO ORBIT': ROCKET AIMING TO TRANSFORM INDIA'S SPACE AMBITIONS TAKES OFF - What if launching a satellite was as easy as calling a cab? That's the vision behind an Indian private rocket company that achieved its first orbital launch on Saturday. Skyroot Aerospace, which recently became India's first space tech unicorn after reaching $1.1bn valuation, launched Vikram-1 from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) launch facility in Sriharikota in southern India. More (Source: BBC - Jul 19)
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