LOCKHEED MARTIN RELEASES OPEN-SOURCE SATELLITE INTERFACE FOR ON-ORBIT DOCKING - Lockheed Martin on April 4 released the technical specifications of a docking adapter that could be used by manufacturers to make satellites interoperable and easier to update on orbit with new technology. The technical data for the Mission Augmentation Port (MAP) can be used by designers to develop their own docking adapters, said Lockheed Martin. The company used the MAP standard to design its own docking device, called Augmentation System Port Interface (ASPIN). More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 5)
SATELLITE POLLUTION IS THREATENING TO ALTER OUR VIEW OF THE NIGHT SKY - The night sky has been a source of information and wonder since the dawn of humankind -- and it looks almost the same now as it did then. But the night sky as we know it is on the precipice of changing dramatically due to the proliferation of satellites just a few hundred miles above Earth. "For the first time in human history, we're not going to have access to the night sky in the way that we've seen it," said Samantha Lawler, an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Regina in Canada. More (Source: CNN - Apr 5)
PRIVATE MISSION READY FOR LAUNCH TO THE ISS - The first private mission to the International Space Station by an American vehicle is scheduled to launch this week to serve as a first step in one company’s plans to establish a commercial space station. Axiom Space is targeting April 6 for the launch of its Ax-1 mission on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center, with a static-fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for April 4. That Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endeavour, will spend 10 days in space, including eight docked to the ISS. There are additional launch opportunities daily through at least April 9. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 4)
RUSSIA TO HALT COOPERATION OVER INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia says it will end cooperation with western countries over the International Space Station until sanctions are lifted. Russia’s space director said on Saturday that the restoration of normal ties between partners at the ISS and other joint space projects would be possible only once western sanctions against Moscow were lifted. More (Source: The Guardian - Apr 3)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 2 BLACKSKY EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - Rocket Lab just sent two more private Earth-observation satellites skyward. A Rocket Lab Electron launcher lifted off Saturday (April 2) at 8:41a.m. EST (1241 GMT) from the company's Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Pensula. The local time was 1:10 a.m. Sunday morning at the launch site. The two-stage Electron rocket carried two spacecraft for the Virginia company BlackSky. They were successfully deployed about 40 minutes after liftoff. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 3)
FORTY PAYLOADS RIDE INTO ORBIT ON SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET - SpaceX launched a German environmental mapping satellite and 39 co-passenger spacecraft Friday, dodging thunderstorms near Cape Canaveral that threatened to keep the Falcon 9 rocket on the ground. The rideshare mission, named Transporter 4, lifted off at 12:24:17 p.m. EDT (1624:17 GMT) from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Forecasters initially predicted just a 30% chance weather would be acceptable for launch Friday, but SpaceX proceeded with the countdown, and clouds lifted just enough to make it safe for the Falcon 9 to blast off from Florida’s Space Coast. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 2)
CHINESE SPACECRAFT REENTERS ATMOSPHERE AHEAD OF NEW SPACE STATION MISSIONS - China deorbited the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft Thursday after testing on-orbit docking, refueling and module transposition for the Chinese space station. Tianzhou-2 reentered the atmosphere over the South Pacific at 6:40 a.m. Eastern March 31, China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSA, announced minutes after the event. The area of the ocean is frequently used as a “spacecraft cemetery.” The spacecraft separated from the forward docking port of Tianhe, the core module of China’s space station, at 3:59 a.m. Eastern March 27. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 1)
NASA SAYS RUSSIA IS STILL ‘MOVING TOWARD’ EXTENDING THE SPACE STATION THROUGH 2030 - Despite the United States and Russia’s deteriorating relationship here on Earth, Russia is still considering extending its participation on the International Space Station through 2030, according to NASA. However, it could be a few months before there is a solid update on Russia’s official stance. NASA and Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, have been the two largest partners on the International Space Station for the last three decades. The two organizations have agreed to work together on the ISS through 2024, but at the end of last year, the Biden administration announced its intentions to extend the space station program through 2030. Russia has not formally agreed to the extension yet. More (Source: The Verge - Apr 1)
BLUE ORIGIN FLIES FOURTH SUBORBITAL CREW MISSION - Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital launcher lofted six passengers, including the rocket’s chief designer, on an up-and-down flight to the edge of space Thursday. After a series of countdown holds, the commercial space company launched the single-stage New Shepard rocket from West Texas at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT; 8:58 a.m. CDT). The mission lasted a little more than 10 minutes from liftoff until touchdown of Blue Origin’s crew capsule, which returned to the company’s sprawling test facility for landing just a couple of miles from the launch pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 1)
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