DOCKING, RENDEZVOUS AND NEWTON'S THIRD LAW – THE CHALLENGE OF SERVICING SATELLITES IN SPACE - If you want to build or fix something in space, you might think you'd need a human to do it. But what if you didn't? What if robotic spacecraft could be used to refuel satellites in orbit, add new instruments to outdated machinery and even build entire structures while in space?   More
(Source: Phys.org - Mar 12)

SPACEX CEO ELON MUSK SAYS THERE’S NOTHING TO FEAR FROM STARLINK BROADBAND SATELLITES (AND NO SPIN-OUT) - Will SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite constellation ruin astronomy? Will it threaten the telecom industry? Will SpaceX spin out Starlink anytime soon? SpaceX’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, answered all three questions today at a fireside chat at the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington, D.C.: No, no and no.   More
(Source: GeekWire - Mar 11)

SPACEX ON TRACK TO LAUNCH FIRST NASA ASTRONAUTS IN MAY, PRESIDENT SAYS - SpaceX is closing in on its first human spaceflight, with President and COO Gwynne Shotwell telling reporters on Tuesday that the company is aiming to fly astronauts to space in about two months. “We’re gunning for May. We have work to do, NASA has work to do,” Shotwell said at the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington, D.C. Her comments mean SpaceX remains on schedule in its quest to be the first U.S. company to fly NASA astronauts in nearly a decade.   More
(Source: CNBC - Mar 11)

ARISS CELEBRATING SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH CARRYING INTEROPERABLE RADIO SYSTEM TO ISS - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is celebrating the successful launch and docking of the SpaceX-20 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). One payload on the flight is the ARISS Interoperable Radio System (IORS), which ARISS calls “the foundational element of the ARISS next-generation radio system” on the space station. Amateur radio has been an integral component of ISS missions since 2000. The Dragon cargo capsule docked successfully with the space station on March 9.   More
(Source: ARRL - Mar 11)

CANCELLATION OF PSAT3 LAUNCH MEANS NO DARPA LAUNCH CHALLENGE WINNER - The launch of the PSAT3 CubeSat has been canceled, ending chances for winning the DARPA Launch Challenge. The challenge offered a $10 million prize for any launch provider that could deliver a rocket with only 30 days’ notice of what payloads they would have and where they would launch from — and then, to do it again only 30 days later.    More
(Source: ARRL - Mar 11)

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH TAKES CHINA A STEP CLOSER TO COMPLETING BEIDOU NAVIGATION CONSTELLATION - China successfully launched a Beidou positioning, navigation and timing satellite Monday as the country nears completion of its answer to the GPS system. The Long March 3B/E rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 7:55 a.m. Eastern. The Beidou GEO-2 satellite was sent into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 10)

ASTRONAUTS CAPTURE SPACEX CARGO CAPSULE WITH ROBOT ARM FOR FINAL TIME - For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule approached the International Space Station Monday for capture with the research lab’s robotic arm, delivering more than 4,300 pounds of food, experiments and spare parts. Future Dragon resupply missions will use a new spaceship design to automatically dock with the space station. The unpiloted cargo freighter completed a two-day pursuit of the space station Monday with an automated approach to the orbiting research outpost.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 10)

OLYMPIC ORBITER: 'GUNDAM SATELLITE' HITCHES RIDE TO ISS TO PROMOTE 2020 GAMES - A microsatellite carrying model robots from the popular science fiction anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” was successfully launched to promote the Olympics, organizers said Saturday. The so-called G-Satellite, which contains two figurines from the animated series, hitched a ride to the International Space Station on Friday aboard a SpaceX/Dragon cargo flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will reach the ISS on Monday at 8 p.m. Japan time.   More
(Source: The Japan Times - Mar 8)

THE DSCOVR EARTH AND SPACE WEATHER SATELLITE IS BACK ONLINE AFTER A MONTHS-LONG GLITCH - A disabled satellite that tracks space weather is back online after nine months of efforts to get it communicating with Earth, according to a U.S. government update. The nearly five-year-old Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) went into a safe mode lockdown on June 27, 2019, due to issues with the attitude control system that keeps it properly oriented in space to receive commands and send data.    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 8)

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