ELON MUSK’S SPACEX SATELLITES CLUTTER THE SKIES, FRUSTRATING ASTRONOMERS - Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s hundreds of satellites cluttering up the galaxy. A plethora of massive internet satellites launched by eco-friendly billionaire Elon Musk are swirling overhead — and astronomers are trying mightily to figure out how to deal with the sun’s glaring reflection off those man-made orbiters. “There’s almost no place in the sky that you won’t see a satellite going by,” the American Astronomical Society’s Rick Feinberg told The Post. More (Source: New York Post - Sep 20)
NEXT SPACEX LAUNCH WILL WAIT FOR IMPROVED OCEAN CONDITIONS - The launch of SpaceX’s next 60 Starlink satellites will wait for better weather and sea conditions after currents were too strong for the company’s rocket landing platform to hold position in the Atlantic Ocean for a launch attempt Thursday. After scrubbing Thursday’s launch attempt, SpaceX initially said it might try again to launch the mission Friday afternoon. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 19)
SPACEX DELAYS NEXT STARLINK SATELLITE FLEET LAUNCH DUE TO ROCKET 'RECOVERY ISSUE' - SpaceX called off the launch of a new fleet of Starlink internet satellites on Thursday (Feb. 17) due to a "recovery issue" related to the mission's Falcon 9 rocket. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch 60 new Starlink satellites for the company's growing megaconstellation at 2:19 p.m. EDT (1819 GMT) Thursday from Pad 39A of NASA's historic Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But 15 minutes before the planned liftoff, SpaceX scrubbed the mission. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 18)
MILITARY COMMANDERS COULD USE MORE SATELLITES FOR TACTICAL SURVEILLANCE - Pacific theater Air Force commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said one of the items on his wish list are low-orbiting surveillance satellites to help track targets on the ground, at sea and in the air. “Yes, I am absolutely in favor of more space-based ISR,” said Wilsbach, the commander of Pacific Air Forces at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. ISR is the military abbreviation for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 18)
TURKEY TO LAUNCH TüRKSAT 5A SATELLITE INTO SPACE ON NOV. 30 - Turkey will launch the Türksat 5A satellite into space on Nov. 30, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said Wednesday. Türksat 5A is a broadcast satellite that will operate in the Ku band at the 31 degrees east longitude slot in geostationary orbit, covering Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and large regions of Africa. It will provide television services and improve broadband data networks. It reportedly has a launch mass of 3,500 kilograms (7,716 pounds) and electrical power of 12 kilowatts. More (Source: Daily Sabah - Sep 17)
SATELLITES WATCH HURRICANE SALLY MAKE LANDFALL IN ALABAMA - Hurricane Sally made landfall in Alabama as a Category 2 storm early Wednesday morning (Sept. 16) as satellites monitored the storm from space. Sally landed near Gulf Shores, Alabama, at about 5:45 a.m. EDT (0945 GMT), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which caught sight of the landfall using the GOES-East satellite. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 17)
MILITARY EARLY WARNING SATELLITES TO BEGIN MIGRATION TO NEW GROUND SYSTEM - Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 16 it received a $51.2 million contract to begin integrating U.S. missile warning satellites with a new ground system that is being developed to command and control all military satellites in the future. Under the contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Lockheed Martin will start the process of migrating a Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous satellite... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 17)
SPACE FORCE SET TO RECEIVE SIXTH ANTI-JAMMING SATELLITE BY END OF YEAR - The sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite completed its On-Orbit Test (OOT) period Aug. 27, clearing the way for it to be transferred to the U.S. Space Force by the end of 2020, primary contractor Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 15. More (Source: C4ISRNet - Sep 17)
CHINA LAUNCHES 9 SATELLITES INTO SPACE FROM OCEAN PLATFORM - China launched a Long March 11 rocket from an ocean platform in the Yellow Sea early Tuesday (Sept. 15), successfully sending nine satellites into orbit. The launch took place at 09:23 local time (01:23 GMT/9:23 p.m. Eastern Monday) from a 524-feet-long (159.6 meters) launch platform named De Bo 3. The mission is China's second ocean-based launch, following a first Long March 11 sea launch in June 2019. It is the first time however that China has used new seaport facilities at Haiyang in eastern China. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 16)
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