SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX sent another group of Starlink satellites to space today (Aug. 10) as the company continues to assemble its giant internet constellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink spacecraft to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT), after a one-day weather delay. As is typical for these missions, the first stage of Falcon 9 made a soft landing back on Earth roughly eight minutes after launch, touching down on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the Instructions, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 12)

‘WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN:’ JUNK SATELLITES ARE A LOOMING HAZARD - Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its competitors are making reliable, and decently-fast satellite internet services a reality thanks to a growing armada of shimmering satellites orbiting overhead. Through its constellation of over 6,000, 500-pound satellites, SpaceX’s Starlink internet service already reportedly provides broadband to around three million global users, some in remote locations underserved by traditional internet providers. But what happens when all those aging satellites no longer serve their purpose?    More
(Source: Popular Science - Aug 10)

ROCKET LAB’S READY NOW TO LAUNCH CAPELLA’S ACADIA-3 SAR SATELLITE EIGHT DAYS AFTER PREVIOUS MISSION - Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB), a provider in launch services and space systems, announced it has scheduled the launch for its 52nd Electron mission which will deploy a single satellite for American space tech company Capella Space (“Capella”). The mission is scheduled to launch during a 14-day window that opens on August 11th from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission will deploy Capella’s Acadia-3 SAR satellite, a synthetic aperture radar satellite for Earth imagery and observation, to a mid-inclination 615km circular orbit to add to Capella’s existing SAR satellite constellation.   More
(Source: SatNews - Aug 10)

NASA SENDS FINAL COMMAND TO ITS NEOWISE SPACECRAFT, ENDING MORE THAN A DECADE OF ASTEROID OBSERVATIONS - A spacecraft that helped bolster planetary defense is now at the end of its operational mission. On Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft into its final hibernation mode by shutting off its transmitter. The command, issued from the Earth Orbiting Missions Operations Center at JPL, brought to an end more than a decade of observations of comets and asteroids that helped further the understanding of celestial bodies that could potentially pose a threat to Earth.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 9)

CHINESE MEGACONSTELLATION LAUNCH CREATES FIELD OF SPACE DEBRIS - A Chinese launch to deploy a first batch of communications satellites has created more than 50 pieces of debris which could threaten spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The Long March 6A launched Aug. 6, from a specifically constructed launch pad at Taiyuan spaceport. The rocket’s upper stage, modified for restarts and deploying numerous satellites, deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”), or G60, satellites into roughly 800-kilometer-altitude polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST).   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 9)

SPACEX TO LAUNCH ARCTIC SATELLITE BROADBAND MISSION AUGUST 11-12 - After a delay from the original launch date of July 15th, 2024, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission August 11-12, consisting of two satellites owned by Space Norway. The Falcon 9 will launch the two Northrop Grumman-built satellites into a highly elliptical orbit that lingers over the Arctic region. The satellites carry communications payloads for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Space Force, and Inmarsat. The launch will take place at SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT, 0200 UTC).   More
(Source: SatNews - Aug 9)

ISS ASTRONAUTS ON EIGHT-DAY MISSION MAY BE STUCK UNTIL 2025, NASA SAYS - Two US astronauts who blasted into space for an eight-day mission in June may be stuck on the International Space Station until next year if their Boeing Starliner cannot be repaired for them to return home, Nasa has said. Nasa officials on Wednesday said astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who became the first crew to fly Boeing’s Starliner capsule, could return on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025 if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Aug 9)

PRIVATE CYGNUS FREIGHTER ARRIVES AT THE ISS WITH 4 TONS OF SUPPLIES - Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus freighter reached the International Space Station (ISS) early Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), carrying about 4 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. The Cygnus, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday (Aug. 4), was captured by the station's robotic arm on Tuesday at 3:11 a.m. (0711 GMT), as the duo were flying over the South Atlantic Ocean. The freighter — named the S.S. Richard "Dick" Scobee, after the commander of the tragic STS-51-L mission of the space shuttle Challenger — delivered nearly 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of food, scientific gear and other supplies to the ISS.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 8)

HEAVIER SMALLSATS WEIGH DOWN MARKET FORECASTS - The number of smallsats forecasted to launch in the next decade is declining as some satellites get heavier. In a presentation at a side meeting during the Small Satellite Conference Aug. 7, Gabriel Deville, senior consultant at Novaspace, said his company was forecasting 14,500 smallsats would launch in the next decade. Novaspace, formed earlier this year from the merger of Euroconsult and SpaceTec Partners, defines smallsats as those weighing no more than 500 kilograms.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 8)

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