ONEWEB SIGNS WITH SPACEX TO RESUME LAUNCHING INTERNET CONSTELLATION - OneWeb said Monday it has reached an agreement with SpaceX to resume launching the company’s satellite internet constellation later this year, just 18 days after suspending launches on Russian Soyuz rockets. Few details about the agreement were released Monday morning. “Terms of the agreement with SpaceX are confidential,” OneWeb said in a statement. OneWeb said the “first launch” with SpaceX is expected before the end of this year, suggesting the company anticipates multiple flights on SpaceX rockets.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22)

ESA WEIGHS OPTIONS FOR REPLACING SOYUZ LAUNCHES - The European Space Agency is looking at options for launching missions that were to fly on Russia’s Soyuz rocket, including both non-European rockets and early use of the Ariane 6. The ESA Council meeting that concluded March 17 addressed Russia’s Feb. 26 decision to halt Soyuz launches from French Guiana and withdraw its personnel there in response to European sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. That decision puts five European missions in limbo: two launches of Galileo navigation satellites, ESA’s Euclid space observatory and EarthCARE Earth science satellites, and a French reconnaissance satellite.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)

CHINESE RESEARCHERS CLAIM TO DEVELOP SATELLITE-KILLING WEAPON - If researchers of China are to be believed, a microwave machine called 'Relativistic Klystron Amplifier (RKA)’ has been developed by them. What’s so special about it? The machine can be used to jam or destroy satellites in space, as per researchers. It seems to have the power to burn out sensitive electronics in satellites.   More
(Source: WION - Mar 20)

ALL-RUSSIAN SOYUZ CREW DOCKS WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - For the first time, a Soyuz spacecraft with only Russian cosmonaut International Space Station crew members launched and docked to the orbiting outpost. Aboard Soyuz MS-21 were Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov. They launched atop a Soyuz rocket at 11:55 a.m. EDT (15:55 UTC) March 18, 2022, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked at the space station two two orbits later at 3:12 p.m. EDT (19:12 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceflightInsider.com - Mar 19)

SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES RECORD 12TH MISSION, LANDS ON SHIP AT SEA - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flew for an unprecedented 12th time Saturday (March 19) and came back down to Earth for yet another successful touchdown. The two-stage Falcon 9 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:42 a.m. EDT (0442 GMT) on Saturday, carrying 53 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 19)

SOYUZ LAUNCHES TO SPACE STATION WITH FIRST ALL-RUSSIAN COSMONAUT CREW IN 22 YEARS - A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has lifted off for the International Space Station with the first all-Russian career-cosmonaut crew to fly in more than two decades. Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov embarked on a planned six-month stay on board the space station on Friday (March 18). The three took flight at 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT or 8:55 p.m. local time) aboard Soyuz MS-21 atop a Soyuz 2.1a booster from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 19)

LAUNCH OF U.S. SPACE FORCE MISSILE-WARNING SATELLITE DELAYED INDEFINITELY - The launch of a U.S. Space Force mission known as USSF-12 has been put on indefinite pause, for reasons that are not being disclosed. USSF-12 was planned as a two-satellite mission that United Launch Alliance was preparing to launch in April on an Atlas 5 rocket. The primary payload is the geosynchronous Wide Field of View mid-size satellite equipped with a missile-warning sensor. A rideshare spacecraft was expected to fly an unspecified number of small satellites for military experiments.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 18)

CHINA LAUNCHES SECOND YAOGAN-34 RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE - A Long March 4C rocket sent a new classified Yaogan satellite into orbit Thursday, marking China’s sixth orbital launch of 2022. The Long March 4C lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 3:09 a.m. Eastern (15:09 local time). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success within the hour, also revealing the mission payload.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 18)

SATELLITE PHOTO SHOWS WORD 'CHILDREN' IN FRONT OF NOW-DESTROYED UKRAINIAN THEATER - A new Maxar Technologies satellite image of a now-destroyed theater in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol shows the word "children" in Russian (дети) written in front of and behind the building. Ukrainian officials said that roughly 1,000 people were inside the Drama Theater of Mariupol during its destruction Wednesday (March 16), and it was unclear how many had survived, according to a Thursday (March 17) report in The New York Times.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 18)

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