SATELLITE IMAGE PINPOINTS RUSSIAN CRUISER MOSKVA AS SHE BURNED - The Russian cruiser Moskva will go down in history. The sinking will be studied and written about, both as a single event and, likely, a key moment in the War. The fog of war is still obscuring the event, and information operations are clouding it further. But we can look again at the open source intelligence (OSINT) picture. In particular, the ship’s movements and where she was when it happened. More (Source: Naval News - Apr 16)
SPACE FORCE LOOKING AT WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO REFUEL SATELLITES IN ORBIT - The U.S. Space Force in 2025 plans to launch to geostationary orbit three small satellites that will attempt to dock with a propellant tanker so they can be refueled in space. The idea is to “test out pieces of the refueling infrastructure,” Col. Joseph Roth, director of innovation and prototyping at U.S. Space Systems Command, told SpaceNews last week at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 15)
TRADING DRESS-UP FOR LIFT-OFF, BARBIE FLIES ON SPACE STATION FOR FIRST TIME - After almost 60 years of dressing up like an astronaut, Barbie has launched into space for real. Two of the iconic fashion dolls are now on board the International Space Station (ISS), where they are part of "Mission DreamStar," an outreach project to inspire girls to consider careers in aerospace and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. As revealed by Mattel on Thursday (April 14), the dolls have been in Earth orbit since February as part of a collaboration between the toy company and the ISS U.S. National Laboratory. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 15)
CHINA GEARS UP FOR NEW SPACE STATION MISSIONS, RECORD-BREAKING CREW SET TO RETURN HOME - A Long March rocket arrived at Wenchang spaceport Monday in preparation for a new round of space station missions starting May. The Long March 7 rocket was delivered to Wenchang after a near week-long voyage from the northern port city of Tianjin, China’s human spaceflight agency announced April 11. The rocket is planned to launch the roughly 13.5-metric-ton Tianzhou-4 cargo vessel next month to China’s Tianhe space station core module. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 15)
U.S. INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING PAYLOADS AWAITING LAUNCH ON SPACEX ROCKET - SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast just before sunrise Saturday, boosting a classified cargo into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office on what is widely believed to be a naval reconnaissance mission. The Falcon 9 rocket is set to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, a military base on the Pacific coastline northwest of Los Angeles, at 6:27 a.m. PDT (9:27 a.m. EDT; 1327 GMT) Saturday. SpaceX announced late Thursday the launch was being delayed to no earlier than Saturday, allowing time to “complete pre-launch checkouts and data reviews.” More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 15)
NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR RUSSIAN SPACEWALKS OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - NASA will provide coverage of spacewalks Monday, April 18, and Thursday, April 28, as Russian cosmonauts venture outside the International Space Station to activate a new robotic arm attached to the Nauka module. Coverage for both spacewalks will begin at 10 a.m. EDT each day on NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website. Each spacewalk is scheduled to begin around 10:25 a.m. More (Source: NASA - Apr 14)
CHINA AND RUSSIA INCREASED SATELLITES 70 PERCENT IN 2 YEARS, NEW DIA REPORT FINDS - Between 2019 and 2021, China doubled its number of satellites in orbit from some 250 to 499, while Russia increased its number of orbiting satellites from about 150 in 2019 to 169 last year after a slight dip in 2020, according to a new, unclassified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, Challenges to Security in Space: Space Reliance in an Era of Competition and Expansion. The DIA study is a follow-on to an agency study in 2019 of the same topic. More (Source: Via Satellite - Apr 14)
FINLAND TO LAUNCH SATELLITE TO STUDY THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT OF SPACE - Foresail-1, the first satellite from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space, is ready for space, writes Aalto University in a press release. ‘With the help of long-term funding from the Academy of Finland, we have created the first scientific space programme in Finland, which aims to develop more sustainable space technology,’ says Professor Minna Palmroth from the University of Helsinki, the director of the Centre of Excellence. More (Source: Innovation Origins - Apr 14)
RUSSIAN BUILDUP IN EASTERN UKRAINE SEEN IN SATELLITE PHOTOS - Russia's intensifying focus on eastern and southern Ukraine is visible in satellite imagery. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, drawing condemnation from the United States and many other countries around the world. The Russian offensive was initially spread widely, with forces advancing on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the north, cities such as Mariupol in the south and the Donbas and other regions in the east. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 14)
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