WORK CONTINUES ON NISAR SATELLITE AS MISSION LOOKS TOWARD LAUNCH - The NISAR (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite – a joint NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Earth-observing mission – is nearly complete, and a launch readiness date will be determined at the end of April. The spacecraft will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast. Work to be finished before launch includes applying a special coating to hardware components on the satellite’s 39-foot-diameter (12-meter) radar antenna reflector, which is among NASA’s primary contributions to the mission.    More
(Source: NASA - Mar 23)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES MYSTERIOUS SPY SATELLITES IN 4TH-EVER US LIFTOFF - Rocket Lab launched from the U.S. for the fourth time ever on Thursday morning (March 21), sending mystery payloads aloft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NROL-123 mission — or "Live and Let Fly," as Rocket Lab called it — lifted off from the company's Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Thursday at 3:25 a.m. EDT (0725 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 22)

ROSCOSMOS SCRUBS SOYUZ CREW LAUNCH 20 SECONDS BEFORE LIFTOFF - A Russian cosmonaut, an American astronaut and a Belarusian flight attendant turned spaceflight participant are preparing for a mission to the International Space Station. Their arrival at the orbiting outpost will mark the beginning of Expedition 71. Liftoff onboard a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was set for 4:21 p.m. MSK (9:21 a.m. ET, 1321 UTC), however the launch scrubbed at T-20 seconds for a yet unknown reason. Oleg Novistky, Tracy Dyson and Marina Vasilevskaya make up the trio of the MS-25 mission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22)

DRAGON SOARS FROM CAPE CANAVERAL’S PAD 40 ON SPACEX’S 30TH CARGO MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION - SpaceX is gearing up for the next phase of launches from Cape Canaveral that is, in a way, a callback to a previous era in their launch history. While this will be SpaceX’s 30th flight as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, it’s the first time a Dragon 2 spacecraft will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from pad 40.
Update: Liftoff occurred on time at 4:55 p.m. EDT and was followed by separation of the Cargo Dragon vehicle a little less than 12 minutes into flight.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22)

WALLOPS ISLAND POISED FOR ROCKET LAB SATELLITE LAUNCH - Another rocket launch on Virginia’s Eastern Shore is planned for this week, and this one will mark the first time Rocket Lab sends up an intelligence satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office from U.S. soil. Rocket Lab USA will launch a dedicated mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia. The launch window opens in the early morning hours of Thursday, March 21st, but depends on conditions.   More
(Source: Chesapeake Bay Magazine - Mar 21)

CHINA LAUNCHES QUEQIAO-2 RELAY SATELLITE TO SUPPORT MOON MISSIONS - China launched its Queqiao-2 relay satellite Tuesday to support upcoming lunar far side and south polar missions. A Long March 8 rocket lifted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:31 p.m. Eastern, March 19 (0031 UTC March 20). The China National Space Administration (CNSA) confirmed the Queqiao-2 satellite was on a trajectory towards the moon around 40 minutes after launch. CNSA stated Queqiao-2 had deployed its solar arrays and was in its predetermined orbit with a perigee of 200 kilometers and an apogee of 420,000 kilometers.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)

10 SMALL RESEARCH SATELLITES TO FLY TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA selected 10 small research satellites across eight U.S. states to fly to the International Space Station as part of the agency's efforts to expand education and science opportunities, support technology advancement, and provide for workforce development. These small satellites, called CubeSats, use a standard size and form measured in units. CubeSats encourage greater collaboration across government, industry, and academia because they are modular and inexpensive to build and launch.   More
(Source: RTTNews - Mar 21)

SOYUZ MS-25 SET TO LAUNCH TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WITH CREW FROM RUSSIA, BELARUS, AND NASA - The fourth human spaceflight — and third orbital human flight — of the year is being readied for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-25 is scheduled to fly on Thursday, March 21, at 13:21 UTC from Site 31/6 at the spaceport. Mission commander Oleg Novitsky, representing Roscosmos, NASA’s Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya will be on board.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 21)

NASA, SPACEX READY TO LAUNCH 30TH CARGO MISSION TO ISS ON MARCH 21 - Welcome back to Pad-40! SpaceX and NASA are moving toward the launch of company's 30th commercial resupply services mission (CRS-30) to the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an uncrewed SpaceX Cargo Dragon is scheduled for Thursday, March 21, at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) AT Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 21)

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