AST SPACEMOBILE HITS KEY MILESTONE TOWARD SATELLITE-TO-SMARTPHONE 5G SERVICE - Satellite-to-smartphone connectivity venture AST SpaceMobile announced Monday that the wide antenna of its recently launched test satellite deployed successfully — a critical milestone in the company’s development of a global network to provide 5G broadband service. The BlueWalker 3 satellite, launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in September, deployed its 693-square-foot antenna — which the company calls the largest-ever array deployed in low Earth orbit. More (Source: CNBC - Nov 15)
STATION CREW GETS READY FOR PAIR OF SPACEWALKS THIS WEEK - Two astronauts and two cosmonauts are gearing up for a pair of spacewalks this week at the International Space Station. Their Expedition 68 crewmates assisted the spacewalkers with preparations on Monday while also continuing science and maintenance on the orbiting lab. NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are set to exit the space station after setting their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EST on Tuesday signifying the start of their spacewalk. The duo will work on the starboard side of the station’s truss structure and spend about seven hours assembling a mounting bracket to enable the future installation of rollout solar arrays. The new rollout solar arrays will augment the space station’s power generation system. More (Source: NASA - Nov 15)
NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR NEXT SPACEX RESUPPLY LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - NASA and SpaceX are targeting 4:19 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 21, to launch the company’s 26th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff will be from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew. Live launch coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Friday, Nov. 18. Follow all events at: https://www.nasa.gov/live More (Source: NASA - Nov 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 BOOSTER INTO RETIREMENT ON INTELSAT MISSION - SpaceX launched one of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket boosters for the last time Saturday on a rare expendable mission for Intelsat, devoting all of the launcher’s propellant toward placing a pair of television broadcasting satellites into orbit. Intelsat says it paid SpaceX an additional fee for the expendable mission. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:06 a.m. EST (1606 GMT) Saturday after a four-day delay caused by Hurricane Nicole. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 14)
CHINA LAUNCHES TIANZHOU 5 CARGO SHIP TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China just launched a cargo mission to its newly completed space station in preparation for a coming crewed flight. The Tianzhou 5 freighter lifted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province atop a Long March 7 rocket at 9:03 p.m. EST on Nov. 11 (0203 GMT and 10:03 a.m. Beijing time, Nov. 12). The 35-foot-long (10.6 meters) freighter docked with the Tiangong space station just over two hours later, at 11:10 p.m. EST (0410 GMT and 12:10 p.m. Beijing time on Nov. 12), Chinese space officials said (opens in new tab). More (Source: Space.com - Nov 13)
SPACE FORCE ORDERS NEW WEATHER SATELLITE FROM BALL AEROSPACE - The U.S. Space Force has ordered a second environmental satellite known as the Weather System Follow-on Microwave, or WSF-M, made by Ball Aerospace. The first one was purchased in 2018 and is projected to launch in 2024. The Space Force announced Nov. 9 it awarded the company a $78.2 million contract modification, exercising an option to acquire a second WSF-M satellite that would launch in 2028. More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 13)
X-37B SPACE PLANE COMPLETES ITS SIXTH MISSION, LANDS AFTER NEARLY 30 MONTHS IN ORBIT - The X-37B space plane landed Nov. 12 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5:22 a.m. Eastern, setting a new endurance record after spending 908 days on orbit. Its previous record was 780 days. This was the sixth mission of the crewless reusable plane, built by Boeing and jointly operated by the U.S. Space Force and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Known as Orbital Test Vehicle 6, it launched to orbit May 17, 2020, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 13)
TIANZHOU 4 CARGO SPACECRAFT UNDOCKS FROM CHINA'S TIANGONG SPACE STATION - A cargo ship has undocked from China’s space station and will soon burn up in the atmosphere after completing its mission. The uncrewed Tianzhou 4 detached from the docking hub of the Tiangong space station on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT), China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSA, announced (opens in new tab). "After the Tianzhou 4 separated from the orbiting station, we will independently monitor and control the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft. Some related experiments will be carried out in the next step," Wang Saijin, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, told CCTV (opens in new tab). More (Source: Space.com - Nov 12)
ATLAS 5 LAUNCHES WEATHER SATELLITE, REENTRY TECH DEMO MISSION - An Atlas 5 successfully launched a polar-orbiting weather satellite and a reentry technology demonstrator on the final flight of the vehicle from California. The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:49 a.m. Eastern Nov. 10. A problem loading liquid oxygen in the rocket’s Centaur upper stage delayed the liftoff by 24 minutes, two-thirds of the way into the 36-minute launch window. More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 11)
Previous Next
