THE RACE FOR SPACE-BASED BROADBAND: ONEWEB LAUNCHES 34 MORE INTERNET SATELLITES - A rocket blazed into space Thursday afternoon carrying 34 OneWeb satellites. It's the latest sign that 2020 will be a year in which new devices are deployed into Earth's orbit at an unprecedented pace as OneWeb and rival SpaceX race to make global broadband a reality. The OneWeb satellites launched from Kazakhstan at 4:42 pm ET Thursday (Friday morning local time) atop a Russian-made Soyuz rocket. OneWeb purchased the rocket from Arianespace, an aerospace company based in France. More (Source: CNN - Feb 7)
KOCH AND CREWMATES BACK ON EARTH - Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station — including the first all-female excursion — joined a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge to landing in frigid Kazakhstan early Thursday, setting a new record for the longest single flight by a female. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)
HERE COMES THE NEXT SATELLITE CONSTELLATION. ONEWEB LAUNCHES 34 SATELLITES ON THURSDAY - SpaceX has been garnering all the headlines when it comes to satellite constellations. Their Starlink system will eventually have thousands of tiny satellites working together to provide internet access, though only 242 of them have been deployed so far. But now another company is getting on the action: OneWeb. On Thursday February 6th, OneWeb will launch 34 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz launch vehicle, operated by Arianespace. More (Source: Universe Today - Feb 6)
CYGNUS DEPARTS SPACE STATION, DEPLOYS CUBESATS - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft departed the International Space Station Friday to close out a three-month stay, then raised its orbit to release multiple experimental nanosatellites for NASA, the U.S. military and research institutions, including one that was snap-assembled by astronauts using 3D-printed parts produced on the station. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 5)
MAXAR SAYS LAST YEAR’S UNNAMED GEO ORDER IS NEW INTELSAT SATELLITE - Maxar Technologies says the geostationary satellite order it disclosed in November without naming the customer is a high-throughput Intelsat spacecraft that will also carry a pollution sensor for NASA. Intelsat announced Feb. 3 that it had selected Maxar to build Intelsat-40e, a satellite that will provide high-throughput coverage of North America and Central America. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 5)
U.S. SPACE FORCE GETS UPGRADED SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS JAMMERS FOR ‘OFFENSIVE’ OPERATIONS - The U.S. military will deploy a new version of a ground-based communications jammer used to block adversaries’ satellite transmissions. The Counter Communications System was first introduced in 2004. An updated version, called CCS Block 10.2, has completed tests and will be ready for initial operations sometime in 2020, the Space and Missile Systems Center confirmed Feb. 3 in a statement to SpaceNews. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 5)
ONEWEB JOINS THE SATELLITE INTERNET GOLD RUSH THIS WEEK - For the better part of a year, SpaceX has gotten the lion's share of attention when it comes to mega-constellations and satellite Internet. Between May and January, the company launched 240 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, with more launches coming, and has talked of offering preliminary commercial service later this year. More (Source: Ars Technica - Feb 4)
INDIA PLANS TO SEND 50 SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLES INTO ORBIT WITHIN NEXT 5 YEARS - India's government space expenditure still lags behind that of the major players in the sector, such as the US, which spent about 13 times more than India in 2018, according to a report presented to parliament. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch at least 50 medium and heavy satellites into orbit in the next five years. More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 3)
IRAN PREPARING TO LAUNCH SATELLITE IN 'COMING DAYS' - Iran is preparing to launch a new scientific observation satellite in the "coming days," according to AFP. Development of the "Zafar" (Victory) satellite began three years ago, said Morteza Barari, head of the country's national space agency, on Saturday. The 113-kilogram satellite will be launched by a Simorgh rocket. More (Source: The Jerusalem Post - Feb 3)
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