RUSSIA'S NEW NAUKA MODULE READIED FOR LAUNCH TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia's Nauka laboratory module is now slated to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 21. In a statement, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said the new module for the International Space Station will launch from Site 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, atop a Proton-M carrier rocket. Backup launch dates are available on July 22 and July 23.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 13)

SIA REPORT HIGHLIGHTS RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF SATELLITES LAUNCHED IN 2020 - A record number of satellites were launched into orbit in 2020, according to the Satellite Industry Association’s (SIA) State of the Satellite Industry Report. By the end of 2020, there were 3,371 satellites orbiting Earth, an increase of 37% from 2019. The commercial satellite industry dominates the $371 billion global space economy, making up $271 billion, or nearly 73% of its revenue. “Increased demand for satellite broadband, remote sensing imagery and other services balanced declines in demand for services affected by the pandemic.   More
(Source: Via Satellite - Jul 13)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE GROUP - China on Friday successfully sent a new satellite group into preset orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The Zhongzi-02 satellite group was launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 7:59 p.m. (Beijing Time). Friday's launch was the 379th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.    More
(Source: Global Times - Jul 12)

ISRO SWINGING BACK TO FULL ACTION; PLANS TO LAUNCH GEO IMAGING SATELLITE ON AUGUST 12 - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting back into launch activity fully at Sriharikota spaceport with the planned orbiting of geo imaging satellite GISAT-1 on board GSLV-F10 rocket on August 12. It’s going to be only the second launch of the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency in the Covid-19-hit 2021.    More
(Source: The Tribune - Jul 12)

SPACEX CARGO CAPSULE SPLASHES DOWN IN GULF OF MEXICO - Wrapping up a 36-day mission to the International Space Station, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico Friday night with biomedical experiments, spacewalk equipment, and other hardware returning from orbit. The unpiloted spacecraft made a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico south of Tallahassee, Florida, at 11:29 p.m. EDT Friday (0329 GMT Saturday).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 12)

VIRGIN GALACTIC FOUNDER RICHARD BRANSON SUCCESSFULLY ROCKETS TO OUTER SPACE - Richard Branson became the first person to ride into space aboard a rocket he helped fund. The supersonic space plane developed by his company, Virgin Galactic, roared into the sky over New Mexico early Sunday, carrying Branson and three fellow crewmembers. Branson -— along with Virgin Galactic employees Beth Moses, Colin Bennett, and Sirisha Bandla and pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci — boarded the SpaceShipTwo, a winged plane with a single rocket motor...   More
(Source: CNN - Jul 12)

VIRGIN-FOUNDER RICHARD BRANSON HEADS FOR SPACE SUNDAY - After nearly two decades of overly optimistic forecasts, technical challenges, a tragic setback and a determined recovery, Richard Branson, the globe-trotting media mogul and founder of Virgin Galactic, plans to rocket into space Sunday, beating fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to the punch by nine days. In a high-stakes display of confidence in Virgin’s sleek rocketplane, Branson wants to get an owner’s understanding of what his company is offering and in the process, convince potential customers that purely commercial, non-government flights to space are worth the initially astronomical cost.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 10)

SPACEX DRAGON CARGO SHIP DEPARTS SPACE STATION AFTER STORMY DELAYS - A storm-delayed SpaceX spacecraft bid farewell to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (July 8) for the journey back to Earth. The CRS-22 Dragon cargo ship undocked from the station's Harmony module at 10:40 a.m. EDT (1440 GMT), departing for a return to Earth and an eventual arrival in the the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 9)

HOW CAN ASTRONOMERS OVERCOME THE DAMAGE BEING DONE BY SATELLITE MEGA-CONSTELLATIONS? - For countless millennia, whenever we were faced with a clear, cloudless, moonless night, all of humanity was able to witness the full beauty of a dark, pristine sky. From any location on Earth, thousands of stars could be seen at once, as well as intricate features in the Milky Way, a handful of other galaxies, and even a number of nebulae, star clusters, and other deep sky objects. With the advent of the telescope — and later, photographic techniques and equipment — those numbers exploded. Our views of the distant Universe were limited only by our technology and the investments we made in them.   More
(Source: Forbes - Jul 9)

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