MAXAR DELAYS FIRST WORLDVIEW LEGION TO SEPTEMBER - Maxar Technologies is pushing the first WorldView Legion launch to September after encountering a test configuration anomaly, the manufacturer and Earth observation provider announced Monday. The highly anticipated WorldView Legion constellation will provide a boost to Maxar’s Earth observations capacity The first satellite was originally set for a September 2021 launch, but has been pushed back multiple times after issues with hardware and work delays. Maxar had reserved a launch window with SpaceX from May 15 to June 13, but CEO Dan Jablonsky announced the further delay during Maxar’s first quarter 2022 financial results on May 9. More (Source: Via Satellite - May 12)
FIRST EVER SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM UK TO TAKE PLACE IN COMING MONTHS - The first satellite launch from the UK will take place this summer, the government has announced, as Prometheus-2 takes off from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay. Built by In-Space Missions, based in Hampshire, and designed with Airbus Defence and Space, Prometheus-2 is a collaboration between the UK Ministry of Defence and international partners, including the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). More (Source: Aerospace Manufacturing - May 12)
SPACEX TRAINING BEGINS THIS MONTH FOR FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACEWALK MISSION - The four-person crew who will fly on the all-private Polaris Dawn mission — set to include the first commercial spacewalk and the debut of SpaceX’s extravehicular spacesuit — will begin training this month for their ride on a Dragon spacecraft to an altitude more than three times higher than the International Space Station. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 11)
TIANZHOU-4 CARGO CRAFT DOCKS WITH CHINESE SPACE STATION - The Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft completed an automated docking in orbit with the Tianhe space station module late Monday following launch from Wenchang. The Chinese cargo vessel completed docking with the aft port of the Tianhe module at 8:54 p.m. Eastern May 9, seven hours after launch on a Long March 7 rocket from the coastal Wenchang launch center in southern Hainan Province. Launch took place earlier on Monday at 1:56 p.m. Eastern, marking the fifth flight of the Long March 7, designed specifically for space station cargo missions. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 10)
CACI TO LAUNCH EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE TO DEMONSTRATE ALTERNATIVE TO GPS NAVIGATION - U.S. defense contractor CACI International is funding an experiment to demonstrate space technologies for military use, including an alternative to GPS navigation. As part of the company’s plan to grow its space business, CACI is launching two demonstration payloads on a York Space satellite scheduled to fly to low Earth orbit in January aboard the SpaceX Transporter 7 rideshare. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 10)
CHINA LAUNCHES TIANZHOU 4 CARGO SHIP FOR SPACE STATION - China launched the Tianzhou 4 cargo freighter for the country’s space station Monday, beginning a resupply mission to stage hardware, propellant, and provisions at the complex before arrival of the next long-duration crew in June. Chinese state television broadcasted the launch, which occurred at 1:56:37 p.m. EDT (1756:37 GMT) Monday, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation brought the Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island under the orbital plane of China’s space station. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 10)
TELESAT TO ORDER 100 FEWER SATELLITES FOR LEO CONSTELLATION - Increasing costs and delays have forced Telesat to downsize plans for 298 low Earth orbit satellites by a third to keep within its $5 billion budget. The Canadian satellite operator plans to order just 188 satellites plus 10 in-orbit spares from Thales Alenia Space, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said during the company’s May 6 earnings call. That is still enough for the Telesat Lightspeed network to provide “something like 10 terabits of capacity” globally, according to Goldberg, which is more capacity than all current satellites in geostationary orbit combined. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 8)
ASTROSCALE SPACE JUNK REMOVAL SATELLITE NEARLY CATCHES TARGET IN ORBITAL TEST - A satellite designed to test technologies that could one day help clean up Earth orbit has been busy the past few days zooming in on a simulated piece of debris using its onboard sensors. The experiment, by Japanese company Astroscale, however, stopped short of catching the target as engineers detected "anomalous spacecraft conditions." Astroscale, which plans to provide space cleanup services commercially as early as 2024, said in a statement that the demonstration, part of the End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission, was a success despite the last-minute hitch. More (Source: Space.com - May 7)
SPACEX SUCCESSFULLY RETURNS FOUR ASTRONAUTS FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Four astronauts successfully returned home to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft today, bringing an end to their six-month-long stay on the International Space Station (ISS). After undocking from the ISS early Thursday morning, the crew dove through Earth’s atmosphere before splashing down underneath parachutes off the coast of Florida at 12:43AM ET. On board the Crew Dragon were three NASA astronauts — Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron — as well as German astronaut Matthias Maurer with the European Space Agency. More (Source: The Verge - May 7)
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