SPACEX LAUNCHES NILESAT-301 ON FIRST GTO MISSION OF 2022 - SpaceX launched its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket with the Nilesat-301 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on Wednesday. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Falcon 9 embarked on its first GTO mission of the year at 5:04 PM EDT (21:04 UTC). Flying this mission was first stage booster B1062-7, making its seventh flight. After it completed its main task of lifting the second stage and payload out of the atmosphere, the booster landed on SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions. B1062 was first launched as part of the GPS-III SV04 mission in November 2020; it has gone on to launch GSP-III SV05, Inspiration 4, Axiom-1, and two Starlink missions. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 9)
SPACEX READIES FALCON 9 ROCKET TO LAUNCH EGYPTIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - An Egyptian-owned communications satellite is nestled in the nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, heading for an orbital position more than 22,000 miles over the equator. The Nilesat 301 satellite is set to begin a 15-year mission beaming television programming, data services, and internet connectivity to Egypt and neighboring regions in the Middle East and Africa. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)
RUSSIA WARNS OF POTENTIALLY PATHOGENIC SPACE GERMS ON ISS - A Russian scientist has expressed concerns that the country's planned space station could end up being contaminated with germs already on the International Space Station (ISS). Russia's plans for its Russian Orbital Space Station (ROSS) are ongoing amid the country's continued invasion of Ukraine, which has been internationally condemned. One possible option for the creation of the ROSS station would be to use existing Russian modules attached to the ISS. These modules could be detached and then operated independently. More (Source: Newsweek - Jun 9)
CHINA BRINGS FORWARD LAUNCH OF SOLAR POWER PLANT SPACE STATION THAT WOULD BEAM ENERGY BACK TO EARTH - China has brought forward by two years its programme to launch a solar power plant in space that will beam energy back down to Earth. A similar energy project had been proposed by NASA more than two decades ago but was never developed, while the UK government commissioned independent research supporting a £16bn British version in orbit by 2035. More (Source: Sky News - Jun 8)
CHINA'S NEXT CREWED SPACECRAFT IS READY FOR POTENTIAL SPACE STATION RESCUE MISSION - China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts are only just settling in for their six-month mission aboard the country's space station, but Shenzhou 15 is already on standby in case of an emergency in orbit. Shenzhou 14 lifted off on June 4, delivering astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe to the Tianhe space station core module seven hours later. Life in orbit is going well for the trio so far, but back on the ground the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft and a Long March 2F rocket have been assembled and tested in case an emergency arises aboard China's Tiangong space station. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 8)
GLOBALSTAR SPARE SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ON SPACEX ROCKET THIS MONTH - A spare satellite for Globalstar’s data relay and messaging constellation will launch from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket later this month, multiple sources said, in a previously-undisclosed mission on SpaceX’s schedule. The launch will be the first for a Globalstar satellite since 2013, and adds capacity for the company’s commercial network providing data connectivity for satellite phones, asset tracking, and internet-of-things applications. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 8)
XONA TO TEST GPS-ALTERNATIVE DEMO SATELLITE WITH CUSTOMER - Startup Xona Space Systems is preparing to demonstrate services from a test satellite to the first major customer for its planned navigation constellation. Canadian GPS equipment and solutions provider NovAtel, which said May 31 it has signed up to be an early adopter of Xona’s proposed network of around 300 cubesats, plans to use the in-orbit test bed to configure its technology. NovAtel is part of publicly listed technology provider Hexagon — which generated about $4.7 billion in net sales in 2021 — and is one of the largest makers of GPS signal receivers. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 8)
NEW SHEPARD COMPLETES FIFTH CREWED SUBORBITAL FLIGHT - Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle performed its fifth crewed suborbital flight June 4, carrying six people including the first Mexican-born woman to go to space and the company’s first repeat customer. New Shepard lifted off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:25 a.m. Eastern. The crew capsule, with six people on board, landed 10 minutes after liftoff after reaching a peak altitude of about 107 kilometers. The vehicle’s booster made a propulsive landing nearly three minutes earlier. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 7)
SPACEX CARGO MISSION GROUNDED TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE FUEL LEAK - SpaceX has postponed this week’s planned launch of a Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station to investigate a possible leak detected during fueling of the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral. The Dragon spacecraft was scheduled for launch Friday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Officials have not set a new target launch date for the SpaceX resupply mission, but a NASA spokesperson confirmed it would not occur Friday or Saturday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 7)
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