RUSSIAN SOYUZ SPACE STATION CREW LAUNCH SET FOR FRIDAY FOLLOWING TUESDAY’S SUCCESSFUL SPACEWALK - The International Space Station is set to welcome three new crewmates who are set to launch on Friday and arrive just over three hours later. In the meantime, the seven-member Expedition 66 crew turned its attention to science duties following Tuesday’s successful spacewalk. The next crew ship to launch toward the orbiting lab has rolled out and now stands at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft is counting down to lift off on Friday at 11:55 a.m. EDT. More (Source: SciTechDaily - Mar 18)
ASTRA LAUNCHES FIRST SUCCESSFUL MISSION WITH OPERATIONAL SATELLITES - Astra’s small satellite launcher returned to flight Tuesday and delivered an unspecified number of small satellites into orbit after a successful liftoff from Alaska, helping clear the way for a series of three launches for NASA in the coming months at Cape Canaveral. The 43-foot-tall (13.1-meter) launcher, named Rocket 3.3, lifted off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, at 12:22 p.m. EDT (1622 GMT; 8:22 a.m. AKDT) Tuesday. Astra scrubbed a launch attempt Monday due to the threat of lightning at the spaceport. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 18)
ONEWEB NOT EAGER TO TEAR UP LAUNCH CONTRACT WITH ARIANESPACE - OneWeb working with Arianespace, who owes the satellite internet firm six more Soyuz launches, to find rides to orbit for more than 200 of its spacecraft left grounded by an embargo on Western payloads flying aboard Russian rockets. But with launch capacity constrained outside of China and SpaceX, a major OneWeb competitor, the commercial satellite internet provider is facing an inevitable delay in completing its constellation, a milestone previously expected this summer. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 15)
FIVE NEW SATELLITES FROM SATELLOGIC TO LAUNCH ONBOARD THE SPACEX TRANSPORTER-4 MISSION - The upcoming launch includes the first deployment of Satellogic’s new Mark V satellite model. This new generation of satellites enhances the company’s constellation with improved cameras, radios, computers, and other subsystems compatible with all components from previous models, offering Satellogic’s customers higher quality products. The remaining satellites are four updated NewSats Mark IV. These improved satellites contain increased onboard storage and upgrades to the propulsion and navigation systems. More (Source: SatNews - Mar 15)
NASA CONFIRMS U.S. ASTRONAUT WILL RETURN WITH COSMONAUTS ON RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT LATER THIS MONTH - While Russian forces invade Ukraine and the West responds with unprecedented sanctions, an American astronaut is preparing to hitch a ride with two cosmonauts on a Russian spacecraft back to Earth from the International Space Station later this month. Mark Vande Hei, a retired Army colonel, is set to break the record on Tuesday for the longest continuous stay in space by a U.S. astronaut before he departs the ISS on March 30. More (Source: Fox News - Mar 15)
RUSSIA'S UKRAINE INVASION AND SPACE IMPACTS: LIVE UPDATES - On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a war whose impact has stretched into space, with satellites providing internet and intel and longstanding international relations in outer space shifting rapidly. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has received harsh criticism internationally from world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden. With this invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has put himself on the wrong side of history," leaders of a G7 meeting said in a joint statement on the day of the invasion, according to CNN. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 13)
RUSSIA WARNS SANCTIONS COULD CAUSE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO CRASH - According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a result, the Russian segment of the station -- which helps correct its orbit -- could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to "fall down into the sea or onto land", the Roscosmos chief wrote on Telegram. More (Source: France24 - Mar 13)
CHINA TO OPEN SPACE STATION TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY - China is planning to open its space station to commercial missions and activities, according to a senior human spaceflight program official. “When our space station is completed and running, we will actively encourage the private sector to engage in space through various ways,” Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, told China Central Television March 9. “There are many possibilities. We hope there will be competitive, cost-efficient commercial space players to participate in areas including space applications and space resource development. The prospects are good,” Zhou said. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 12)
CAPTURING THE HERITAGE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION BEFORE IT CRASHES INTO THE OCEAN - The International Space Station will intentionally fall to Earth and come to rest within the depths of Point Nemo, a watery graveyard 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) north of Antarctica, in January 2031. The space station will join the fragments of Russia's Mir and NASA's Skylab in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, home to more than 263 pieces of intentionally sunk space debris. Since November 2000, the space station has functioned as an orbiting laboratory 227 nautical miles (420 kilometers) above our planet, as well as a home to continuously rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts. More (Source: CNN - Mar 12)
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