KAMALA HARRIS TO ANNOUNCE US WILL NO LONGER CONDUCT ANTI-SATELLITE TESTS - This evening, Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing that the United States will no longer conduct anti-satellite, or ASAT, missile tests — the practice of using ground-based missiles to destroy satellites in orbit around Earth. Harris is challenging other countries to make the same commitment and establish this policy as a new “norm of responsible behavior in space.” Harris will speak more extensively on the new commitment during a speech at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this evening. Harris currently serves as the chair of the White House’s National Space Council, an executive advisory group that helps to set the nation’s space agenda. More (Source: The Verge - Apr 19)
CHINA SENDING UP NEXT SPACE STATION CREW IN JUNE - China will launch three more astronauts to its newest space station in June after the latest crew returned this weekend following a six-month stay in orbit, an official said Sunday. The crew of the Shenzhou 14 capsule will spend six months on the Tiangong to add two modules to the station, Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, told a news conference. More (Source: ABC News - Apr 18)
SPACEX LAUNCHES NROL-85 SPY SATELLITE FOR U.S. NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit April 17 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The payload, designated NROL-85, was the agency’s second mission of the year and the second orbital launch of 2022 from the Western Range. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 9:13 a.m. Eastern. After separation from the upper stage, the rocket’s first stage landed back at Landing Zone 4 about eight minutes after liftoff. This was the 114th booster successfully recovered by SpaceX. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 18)
SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS: A SECRET WEAPON AGAINST SHADOWY THREATS IN ORBIT - When China fired a missile into one of its own weather satellites in a 2007 show of force, experts called the demo the beginning of a new antisatellite arms race. Fast forward to 2022, and a Chinese space tug is spotted towing a dead navigation satellite into a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt. “This is the type of space event that makes the hair on the back of people’s necks stand up,” said Brian Young, a former space control officer at the U.S. Air Force Space Command and now vice president of KBR’s military space business. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 17)
NASA COVERAGE SET FOR AXIOM MISSION 1 DEPARTURE FROM SPACE STATION - NASA will provide live coverage of the undocking and departure of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) prior to its return to Earth from the International Space Station. The four-member private astronaut crew is scheduled to undock at 10:35 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, to begin the journey home with splashdown off the coast of Florida no earlier than 7:19 a.m. EDT Wednesday, April 20. Teams will monitor weather at the splashdown sites prior to undocking to ensure conditions are acceptable for a safe recovery of the Dragon spacecraft and Ax-1 astronauts. If needed for any reason, there are additional opportunities for the crew’s departure from the space station on Tuesday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 20. More (Source: NASA - Apr 16)
CHINA LAUNCHES CHANG ZHENG 4C FROM TAIYUAN WITH DAQI-1 ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE - A Chang Zheng 4C has launched from Launch Complex 9 (LC-9) at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China at 2:16 AM local time on April 16 (18:16 UTC on April 15) with the Daqi-1 environmental monitoring satellite. The Chang Zheng 4C (also known as Long March 4C) is a small to medium-sized satellite launch vehicle which the Chinese program has frequently used to fly Earth observation satellites. The CZ-4C has been in service since 2006 with 41 successes (including today) out of 43 attempts. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 16)
CHINA’S CHANG ZHENG 3B/E LAUNCHES CHINASAT 6D - China has successfully launched the ChinaSat 6D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit Friday via their Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket. The launch took place at 12:05 UTC (20:05 local time) from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The ChinaSat 6D satellite, also known as Zhongxing 6D, was deployed into orbit by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). The Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) – or Long March 3B/E – rocket is the most powerful of the Chang Zheng 3 series of rockets that China uses for most of its geostationary satellite launches. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 16)
SHENZHOU-13 MISSION ENDS WITH SAFE RETURN OF CHINESE TAIKONAUT TRIO - The Chinese Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and its crew of three taikonauts ended their six-month mission with a return to Earth on Saturday, 16 April after completing the first long-duration stay aboard the Chinese Space Station. The spacecraft undocked and began the trip home on Friday, 15 April, ahead of reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Touchdown occurred at the Dongfeng Landing Site in China’s Inner Mongolia region, located only a handful of kilometers away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Complex. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 16)
SCIENTISTS SAY THIS NEW SATELLITE IS A GAME CHANGER FOR TRACKING HOW OUR ENVIRONMENT IS CHANGING - Space technology has long been used to help forecast weather, spot wildfires and aide scientists’ understanding of the climate crisis. But this next-generation German satellite is being called a game changer for its ability to use more than 250 colors to produce the most precise data on water, soil and vegetation in satellite history, scientists say. The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMAP, is capable of measuring things that would otherwise be invisible, from the degree of pollution in a river flowing through a forest to the nutrient supply within a plant. More (Source: CNN - Apr 16)
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