SECOND COMMERCIAL LYNK GLOBAL SATELLITE STILL LOOKING FOR LAUNCH - Lynk Global said it is still waiting for Spaceflight to rebook a flight for the second commercial satellite in its cellphone-compatible broadband network, four months after the launch services provider’s space tug was kicked off a SpaceX mission. Lynk-07 was supposed to launch onboard Spaceflight’s Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) in April on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission, Lynk Global CEO Charles Miller told SpaceNews.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 9)

TRASH BAG JETTISONED FROM SPACE STATION IN WASTE-MANAGEMENT FIRST - There's been a lot of trash-talking about the International Space Station (ISS) recently. Roughly 172 pounds (78 kilograms) of garbage was ejected in a specialized trash bag from the station's commercial Bishop Airlock on July 2, Nanoracks, the company that built and operates the airlock, announced (opens in new tab) in a press release on Wednesday (July 6). The operation was a test of Nanoracks' new orbital waste-disposal tech, and it went swimmingly, company representatives said.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 9)

SPACEX OPENS BUSY SECOND HALF OF 2022 WITH STARLINK LAUNCH - NASASpaceFlight.com Forums L2 Sign Up Artemis SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other Shop SpaceX opens busy second half of 2022 with Starlink launch written by Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera July 7, 2022 SpaceX’s first launch of the second half of 2022 occurred on Thursday when a Falcon 9 rocket lofted another 53 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). Liftoff occurred at 9:11 AM EDT (13:11 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission kicks off a busy second half of the year for SpaceX where over 30 missions are on the schedule for the company. This follows the 27 missions conducted by SpaceX in the first half of 2022, achieving a launch cadence that would allow them to hit their target of 50 launches or more this year.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jul 7)

VIRGIN GALACTIC SELECTS AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES TO BUILD NEW MOTHERSHIPS - Virgin Galactic announced July 6 it signed an agreement with a Boeing subsidiary to build two new aircraft that will be used as launch platforms for its next-generation suborbital spaceplanes. Virgin Galactic said Aurora Flight Sciences will build two carrier aircraft, or motherships, that will succeed the original WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, called VMS Eve, that it has used for carrying SpaceShipTwo vehicles aloft on suborbital spaceflights. The companies did not disclose the value of the contract, but according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 7)

NASA SATELLITE BREAKS FROM ORBIT AROUND EARTH, HEADS TO MOON - A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It's been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of their small Electron rockets. It will take another four months for the satellite to reach the moon, as it cruises along using minimal energy.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Jul 5)

SATELLITES FALLING BACK ON EARTH DUE TO SOLAR FLARES. SCIENTISTS EXPLAIN HOW DANGEROUS THEY CAN BE - Our sun, which has started its 11-year cycle, is in a very active phase and several reports cited that we will be witnessing frequent solar flares. Scientists have pointed out that these solar flares can turn out to be a real dangerous and currently, they are causing many satellites to fall back on earth. Here is all that you need to know about solar flares and how harmful they can be:    More
(Source: Mint - Jul 4)

NEW ZEALAND JOINS ASAT TESTING BAN - The government of New Zealand has formally joined a U.S.-led ban on testing of destructive direct-ascent antisatellite (ASAT) weapons in an effort to build momentum for a global prohibition on such tests. In a July 1 speech at the University of Otago, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced that the government would join the declaration by the United States in April that it would not conduct such “irresponsible” ASAT tests because of the debris they produce, increasing the risk of collisions with satellites.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 4)

NASA AND ROSCOSMOS CONTINUE SEAT BARTER DISCUSSIONS - NASA is continuing to work with Roscosmos on a seat barter agreement despite missing a self-imposed deadline last month to complete a deal in time to allow exchanges on missions launching this fall. In April, NASA International Space Station officials said they needed to have an agreement between NASA and Roscosmos finalized by late June in order to have a Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, fly on the Crew-5 Crew Dragon mission in early September and an American astronaut, likely Frank Rubio, fly on the Soyuz MS-22 mission launching later in September.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 3)

THE UNITED STATE ANNOUNCES A STOP TO TESTING ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPONS - The United States Government has declared that it will no longer be performing tests of Anti-Satellite (ASAT) weapons. In a public statement during a visit to the Vandenberg Space Force Base, Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed that this policy has the primary purpose of setting an example to other countries. It represents an important step in the direction of establishing “space norms” for all countries to follow.    More
(Source: Universe Today - Jul 3)

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