CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST SATELLITES FOR THOUSAND SAILS MEGACONSTELLATION - China successfully launched the first batch of 18 satellites Tuesday for the Thousand Sails low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, north China, at 2:42 a.m. Eastern (0642 UTC) Aug. 6. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success just over two hours later. The Long March 6A upper stage deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) satellites into polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST).    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 7)

NASA: CYGNUS ON TRACK FOR TUESDAY MORNING ARRIVAL AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is preparing to end a roughly 40-hour journey playing catchup with the International Space Station. After launching late Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft is targeting its arrival at the orbiting outpost Tuesday morning. According to NASA, the Cygnus is on track for capture and the beginning of the berthing process at 3:10 a.m. EDT (0710 UTC). NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will be controlling the Canadarm2 robotic arm during the operation and fellow Crew-8 member and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will be serving in the backup role.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 6)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink satellites to orbit early Sunday (Aug. 4), continuing a busy stretch for the company. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday at 3:24 a.m. EDT (0724 GMT; 12:24 a.m. local California time). The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch as planned, landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 5)

NASA AND SPACEX LAUNCH A NORTHROP GRUMMAN CYGNUS SPACECRAFT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - While the weather proved challenging heading into Sunday’s launch attempt of the Northrop Grumman-21 (NG-21) cargo resupply mission, SpaceX received enough of a good margin that it was able to launch the NASA mission to the International Space Station. With a liftoff of its Falcon 9 rocket at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC), Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft began its roughly 40-hour journey to the orbiting outpost. It deployed its twin circular solar panels at 2:21 a.m. EDT (1821 UTC) to begin charging its batteries.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 5)

SPACEX SCRUBS NORTHROP GRUMMAN CYGNUS SPACECRAFT LAUNCH TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION DUE TO POOR WEATHER - The launch of more than 8,200 pounds of science and cargo supplies to the International Space Station will have to wait a bit longer. Poor weather conditions forced the planned launch to push to no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 4. at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC). When it launches, a Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus spacecraft will begin a roughly two-day journey to the orbiting outpost following its launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the launch beginning about 1.5 hours prior to liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 4)

NASA REVEALS ASTRONAUTS FLYING ON SPACEX'S CREW-10 MISSION TO THE ISS - We now know who will fly on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year. On Thursday (Aug. 1), NASA revealed the four astronauts of Crew-10, which will launch toward the ISS no earlier than February 2025. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will command and pilot the mission, respectively. Japan's Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will both serve as mission specialists.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 4)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites, increasing the company’s mega-constellation in low Earth orbit. The mission came as SpaceX works towards the launch of a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station over the weekend. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-6 mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at 1:01 a.m. EDT (0501 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 3)

CHINA LAUNCHES SECOND SECRETIVE HIGH ORBIT INTERNET SATELLITE - China launched the second of a new series of geostationary communications satellites Thursday, though its purposes remain unclear. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 9:14 a.m. Eastern Aug. 1 (1314 UTC) from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the launch was a complete success. CASC’s statement revealed the earlier undisclosed payload for the launch to be High orbit internet satellite-02 (Weixing Hulianwan Gaogui-02). It follows the first such satellite, which was launched Feb. 29.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 3)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 5TH MISSION FOR JAPANESE EARTH OBSERVATION COMPANY, SYNSPECTIVE - Rocket Lab launched its ninth mission of 2024 and its 51st Electron rocket launch to date. The flight sent an Earth observing satellite to low Earth orbit on behalf of Japan-based Synspective. Liftoff of the “Owl for One, Owl for All” mission from Launch Complex 1’s Pad B in Mahia, New Zealand happened Saturday, Aug. 3, at 4:39 a.m. NZT (Friday, Aug. 2, at 12:39 p.m. EDT, 1639 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 3)

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