2 RUSSIAN SATELLITES TAILING US SPY SATELLITE: WASHINGTON - Washington has accused two Russian satellites of tailing a US spy satellite in what it called "disturbing behavior", prompting a guarded response from Moscow on Tuesday. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that he had received a message from Washington regarding the satellites, adding that "Moscow will respond after studying it." More (Source: Voice of America - Feb 19)
COULD HACKERS TURN SATELLITES INTO WEAPONS? - Hackers could shut down satellites and potentially turn them into weapons, an expert warns. According to William Akoto, a scholar who studies cyber conflict, hackers taking control of the satellites orbiting Earth could have dire consequences. “On the mundane end of scale, hackers could simply shut satellites down, denying access to their services. Hackers could also jam or spoof the signals from satellites, creating havoc for critical infrastructure,” Akoto wrote for Space.com. More (Source: New York Post - Feb 19)
SPACEX WILL FLY SPACE TOURISTS ON CREW DRAGON FOR SPACE ADVENTURES - SpaceX just inked its first deal to launch space tourists into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk has signed an agreement with the U.S. space tourism company Space Adventures to launch up to four passengers on an orbital trip aboard a Crew Dragon space capsule. The mission would last up to five days and could launch as early as late 2021, Space Adventures representatives told Space.com. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 19)
CYGNUS FREIGHTER DELIVERS NEW BRITISH-MADE ANTENNA TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A commercial Cygnus cargo freighter arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday two-and-a-half days after launching from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, delivering a new British-made high-speed communications antenna and more than 7,000 pounds of other experiments and equipment. Astronaut Drew Morgan, working at a control station aboard the space station, used the research outposts’s Canadian-built robotic arm to capture the Cygnus spacecraft at 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT) Tuesday while the cargo freighter hovered less than 40 feet (12 meters) below the complex. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 19)
NEW SATELLITE MADE FROM CORK COULD HELP SMALLER SPACECRAFT RE-ENTER EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE INTACT BY DIRECTING HEAT TOWARD PARTS OF THE HULL DESIGNED TO BURN UP AND FLAKE AWAY - This week the European Space Agency will begin testing a new kind of spacecraft partially made from cork in the hopes of finding a safer way to re-enter the atmosphere. Called ‘QubeSat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurements on Ablation,’ the vessel is made up of a series of cubes stacked on top of each other and measures around a foot in height. More (Source: Daily Mail - Feb 18)
SPACE COMPANIES ARE RACING TO BEAM WEB ACCESS TO THE ENTIRE PLANET. BUT ‘SPACE JUNK’ IS A BIG WORRY - Space companies, from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to start-up OneWeb, are racing to launch satellites into space with the aim of creating global internet coverage on Earth. But there’s one big problem, experts say — the creation and threat from so-called “space junk.” This debris floating in space could interfere with future space missions and satellite launches — and even send objects hurtling back to Earth. More (Source: CNBC - Feb 18)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 60 STARLINK SATELLITES FOR NEW MEGACONSTELLATION, MISSES ROCKET LANDING - SpaceX successfully launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit Monday (Feb. 17), but missed a milestone rocket landing on what was the company's fourth flight of the year. Smoked billowed and flames erupted as the sooty Falcon 9 roared to life at 10:05 a.m. EST (1505 GMT), lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Florida. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 17)
COULD DRONES LAUNCH SATELLITES INTO SPACE BY CRACKING ONE GIANT WHIP? - Of all the ways we’ve found to sling stuff into space, a patented method that combines cutting-edge drone technology with good old-fashioned physics — the kind that even Indiana Jones would probably admire — may be the wildest one we’ve seen yet. As first reported by GeekWire, Amazon has patented a satellite-launching process that, while untested at full scale, aims to summon the power of wave motion to catapult a payload into orbit... More (Source: SYFY WIRE - Feb 17)
CHINA QUIETLY ROLLS OUT NEW ROCKET TO LAUNCH MYSTERY SATELLITE - China has quietly rolled out a new Long March 7A rocket at a coastal launch site in preparation for launch of a ‘technology verification satellite’. Official acknowledgement of an mission involving the new launcher came on Feb. 12 (Chinese), but with no indication of its timeline. However images shared by Chinese space program watchers in China suggest the Long March 7A has already been rolled out to its launch pad at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 17)
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