SENATE BILL WOULD CREATE CENTER TO STUDY SATELLITE INTERFERENCE WITH ASTRONOMY - Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would create a new center devoted to protecting astronomy from interference caused by satellite constellations even as existing efforts involving organizations and companies make progress. The Dark and Quiet Skies Act of 2024, introduced Aug. 1 by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create a “center of excellence” devoted to mitigating light and radio-frequency interference by satellites on astronomical observations. More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 15)
ISRO'S NEXT LAUNCH, AN EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE RIDE ON A "SMALL" ROCKET - To celebrate India's Independence Day, a small rocket with big ambitions is set to fly. ISRO's baby rocket, called the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), will carry an experimental earth imaging satellite named EOS-8 and SR-0 Demo Sat made by a Chennai-based start-up with a cheeky name - Space Rickshaw, Both will be lofted into a low Earth orbit from Sriharikota on Friday morning. "It is a trailblazing satellite packed with new futuristic technologies," says Dr M Sankaran, Director of the UR Rao Satellite Center (URSC) adding that "the small 175 kg, EOS-8 satellite is packed with new and novel experimental technologies that will help power ISRO's and India's dreams." More (Source: NDTV - Aug 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES AFTER YESTERDAY’S LAST SECOND ABORT - Success after an abort yesterday as the SpaceX launch countdown stopped at the 46-second mark when an official said, “launch abort is running,” after the clock stopped ending the webcast. Then on Monday, August 12 at 6:37 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More (Source: SatNews - Aug 14)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES FOR RECORD-TYING 22ND TIME, SENDING ARCTIC BROADBAND SATELLITES TO ORBIT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched for a record-tying 22nd time on Sunday night (Aug. 11), sending aloft two satellites that will provide broadband coverage in the Arctic region. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the two spacecraft of the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday at 10:02 p.m. EDT (7:02 p.m. local California time; 0202 GMT on Aug. 12). More (Source: Space.com - Aug 13)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ASTRONAUTS GET STUCK IN SPACE - We've all been there…stuck for hours on a broken-down train, abandoned in an airport because of a software update or – my most memorable – stranded in the Falkland Islands after an aircraft engine on an ageing air force transport plane caught fire. At least there were penguins to look at. Spare a thought, then, for Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, now more than two months into their eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It is thought that the spacecraft that took them there – Boeing's shiny new Starliner – may not be capable of getting them safely back to Earth. More (Source: BBC - Aug 13)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH PRIVATELY-FINANCED INTERNATIONAL CREW OF FOUR AROUND EARTH’S POLES - A blockchain entrepreneur, a cinematographer, a polar adventurer and a robotics researcher plan to fly around Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule by end of year, becoming the first humans to observe the ice caps and extreme polar environments from orbit, SpaceX announced Monday. The historic flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be commanded by Chun Wang, a wealthy bitcoin pioneer who founded f2pool and stakefish, “which are among the largest Bitcoin mining pools and Ethereum staking providers,” the crew’s website says. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 13)
CHINESE ASTRONAUTS CELEBRATE OLYMPICS ON TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China's current astronaut crew got into the Olympic spirit in orbit. Shenzhou 18 crewmembers Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu have been aboard the country's Tiangong space station since late April and have proven their physical prowess with job-related work such as a national-record spacewalk. But the astronauts also took some time recently to reenact some of the sports that athletes of the just-completed 2024 Paris Olympics competed in here on Earth. Sponsored Links The Most Realistic Game of 2024Raid Shadow Legends More (Source: Space.com - Aug 13)
SPACEX LAUNCHED TWIN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES FOR SPACE NORWAY - SpaceX completed its second launch of the weekend with a mission for Space Norway. The company launched its Falcon 9 rocket for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM). The satellites, called ASBM-1 and ASBM-2, are designed to provide both military satellite communications as well as commercial broadband connectivity in the northern polar region. Liftoff happened at 7:02 p.m. PDT (10:02 p.m. EDT 0202 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 12)
SPACEX ABORTS STARLINK SATELLITE LAUNCH AT JUST 46 SECONDS AND RESCHEDULES - The SpaceX launch countdown stopped at the 46-second mark when an official said, “launch abort is running,” after the clock stopped ending the webcast. SpaceX is now targeting Monday, August 12 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 6:37 a.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 9:49 a.m. ET. More (Source: SatNews - Aug 12)
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