CHINESE NEW-GENERATION SPACECRAFT MISSION PROCEEDING DESPITE CORONAVIRUS, LONG MARCH 7A FAILURE - The test launch of the Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket carrying a Chinese new-generation spacecraft is going ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak. The prototype new-generation crewed spacecraft payload is designed to be capable of deep space travel, including crewed lunar missions. Measures introduced to contain the COVID-19 outbreak have altered, but not halted, launch preparations. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 24)
ONEWEB INCREASES MEGA-CONSTELLATION TO 74 SATELLITES - A Soyuz rocket lifted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying 34 more spacecraft into orbit to continue the build-up of the firm's broadband internet constellation. The mission took place despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has limited much space activity elsewhere. It also comes amid rumours the firm may consider seeking bankruptcy protection. A report by Bloomberg on Thursday said OneWeb was examining different options it could use to stave off the difficulties of a cash crunch. More (Source: BBC News - Mar 23)
COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS DISRUPT ASTRONAUTS' PREPARATIONS FOR ISS - Traditions that spacefarers have observed for decades have fallen foul of efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic as astronauts and cosmonauts face more stringent quarantine measures before they blast into orbit. The next crew bound for the International Space Station, the ultimate destination for self-isolation, will break with ceremony next month and not lay a red carnation at the Kremlin wall where Yuri Gagarin’s ashes are interred. More (Source: The Guardian - Mar 23)
SOYUZ ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES 34 MORE ONEWEB SATELLITES - A Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage lifted off Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, delivering 34 more satellites to orbit for OneWeb’s space-based Internet network in the company’s second launch this year. The Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket fired its main engines and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1706:58 GMT (1:06:58 p.m. EDT; 10:06:58 p.m. Baikonur time) carrying the 34 Florida-built satellites into orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22)
ONEWEB PLANS SATURDAY SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN - OneWeb plans to launch 34 communications satellites from Kazakhstan at 1:06 p.m. EDT Saturday -- its third such launch of satellites made in Florida. The communications company based in London and Virginia has been mass-producing satellites near Kennedy Space Center since last year. The company previously launched 40 satellites from space centers in Kazakhstan and South America. More (Source: UPI.com - Mar 21)
WHAT'S THAT IN THE SKY? IT'S A SPACEX ROCKET, BUT IT SURE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT - Planetary nebula? Supernova remnant? No, this incredible image is actually a photo of a rocket launch. The rocket's exhaust combined with atmospheric effects emulates an image of a deep-space object. A photographer captured the shot during the launch of SpaceX's 20th cargo resupply mission on March 6 as the Falcon 9 blasted off toward the International Space Station. Before the first-stage booster touched down at the company's landing zone, a short distance away, it created quite the spectacle. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 21)
FACING PANDEMIC, NASA SHUTTERS ROCKET FACTORY, HALTS SLS AND ORION TESTING - NASA announced Thursday that work on the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule at facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi is being halted due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic, a stoppage that could force further delays on the already behind-schedule and over-budget programs. Meanwhile, NASA officials said Thursday they are making plans to try and keep the agency’s next Mars rover and the multibillion-dollar James Webb Space Telescope on schedule for launches in later this year and in 2021. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 20)
ELON MUSK INSISTS HIS SATELLITE SWARM WON’T INTERFERE WITH SCIENCE. THIS MODEL DISAGREES. - Summer star gazers in rural areas are used to seeing a handful of satellites streak across the sky. But in the coming years, eagle-eyed amateurs may be able to pick out hundreds. And for professional astronomers, research will never be the same again. The race to blanket the globe in satellite internet is on. More (Source: Popular Science - Mar 20)
ARGENTINE OPERATOR ARSAT REVIVES PLANS FOR THIRD SATELLITE - Argentina’s national satellite operator Arsat, undeterred by the growing coronavirus pandemic, expects to soon sign a contract with domestic manufacturer INVAP for a geostationary communications satellite. Arsat, which has two satellites in orbit, had signed a contract with Arianespace to launch a third satellite in 2019 on an Ariane 5, but that satellite was never built. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 20)
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