CHINESE SPACE FIRM RAISES FUNDS FOR COMMERCIAL WEATHER DATA SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - A Chinese private company wants to build a constellation of 80 satellites to provide weather data, further illustrating the growth and scope of China’s commercial space sector. Tianjin-based Yunyao Yuhang recently secured nearly $14.8 million in “Pre-A+” funding, the company announced Aug. 4, following a previous round worth “tens of millions of yuan” in July 2021. The new round was led by Zhongwei Yihe Investment.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 6)

AGING TELESAT SATELLITE RUNNING OUT OF FUEL AS PROJECTED LEO COSTS SOAR - Canada’s Telesat is bracing for a revenue hit in 2023 after being forced to retire its Anik F2 satellite from full service three years earlier than planned. The aging Boeing-built satellite has been operating under a workaround mode for the past year after two of its four station-keeping thrusters suffered an anomaly. One of the thrusters failed while the second continued to support operations with some constraints, Telesat said Aug. 5, enabling the company to avoid impacting Anik F2 customers that are mainly based in Canada.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 6)

CHINA LAUNCHES CARBON AND ECOSYSTEM MONITORING SATELLITE - China launched a carbon and ecosystem monitoring satellite and two smaller payloads with the country's 28th launch of 2022 late on Wednesday (Aug. 3). Liftoff of the Long March 4B rocket carrying the three satellites occurred at 11:08 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0308 GMT or 11:08 a.m. Beijing time on Aug. 4) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 6)

RUSSIA'S WITHDRAWAL FROM ISS ANOTHER SIGN OF ITS SPACE DECLINE - Russia announced this week that it will pull out of the International Space Station program after 2024. There certainly are important near-term challenges related to Russia's withdrawal from the ISS partnership that will need to be addressed, but the bigger issue may be the continuing decline of the Russian space enterprise and the potential security implications for the future.   More
(Source: UPI - Aug 5)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES US SPY SATELLITE ON MYSTERY MISSION - Another U.S. spy satellite has taken flight on a mystery mission. The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's (NRO) NROL-199 spacecraft launched today (Aug. 4) atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster from New Zealand, rising off the pad at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT; 5 p.m. local time in New Zealand). If all goes according to plan, Rocket Lab will deploy the satellite about an hour after liftoff. The launch occurred about two days later than planned after high winds delayed an attempted liftoff on Aug. 2. Rocket Lab shut down its webcast shortly after the Electron reached orbit at the request of the NRO.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 5)

ATLAS V ROCKET LAUNCHES MISSILE-DETECTING SATELLITE FOR U.S. SPACE FORCE - The United States' missile-tracking capabilities are about to get a boost. United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the sixth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO-6) satellite this morning (Aug. 4), completing the SBIRS GEO constellation for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC). An Atlas V rocket carrying the missile-detection satellite lifted off at 6:29 a.m. EDT (1029 GMT) today from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket's two stages separated a little over four minutes into flight, setting up the Centaur upper stage with SBIRS GEO-6 for a series of engine burns.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 5)

MOMENTUS DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL SATELLITES FROM VIGORIDE TUG - Momentus has deployed additional satellites from its first space tug that encountered technical problems shortly after its launch in May and is moving forward with a second launch later this year. The company said Aug. 2 that it deployed four satellites from the Vigoride-3 tug in July, in addition to two that were deployed three days after its launch May 25 on the SpaceX Transporter-5 rideshare mission. A seventh satellite, Bronco-Sat 1, was deployed from a second port on the Transporter-5 launch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 4)

MISSION ENDS FOR COPERNICUS SENTINEL-1B SATELLITE - On 23 December 2021, Copernicus Sentinel-1B experienced an anomaly related to the instrument electronics power supply provided by the satellite platform, leaving it unable to deliver radar data. Since then spacecraft operators and engineers have been working tirelessly to rectify the issue. Unfortunately, despite all concerted efforts, ESA and the European Commission announce that it is the end of the mission for Sentinel-1B. Copernicus Sentinel-1A remains fully operational and plans are in force to launch Sentinel-1C as soon as possible.   More
(Source: European Space Agency - Aug 4)

RUSSIA'S SPACE AGENCY TO LAUNCH IRANIAN SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - Russia will launch an Iranian satellite into space on Tuesday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced on Wednesday. The satellite, named Khayyam, was developed and manufactured at enterprises that are part of Roscosmos, according to the agency. The remote-sensing satellite will provide "accurate spatial data" to Iran to improve agricultural productivity, monitoring of water resources, management of natural disasters and monitoring of mines and Iran's borders, among other uses, according to Iranian media.    More
(Source: The Jerusalem Post - Aug 4)

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