ESA IS LAUNCHING TWO SATELLITES ON A WORLD-FIRST MISSION TO CREATE A MAN-MADE SOLAR ECLIPSE - ESA says the "Proba-3" mission will be the first to create an artificial eclipse in a bid to better understand solar weather. The recent total solar eclipse primarily seen in North America left tens of millions in awe. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) is working to create an artificial eclipse by launching two satellites in a stack to study the Sun’s corona, the atmosphere surrounding our universe’s star. More (Source: Euronews.com - Apr 17)
NASA COMPLETES ANALYSIS OF RECOVERED SPACE OBJECT - In March 2021, NASA ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station following the delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost. The total mass of the hardware released from space station was about 5,800 pounds. More (Source: NASA - Apr 17)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH MAXAR WORLDVIEW LEGION 1 & 2 MISSION FOR LEADING RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY - These are the first two of six planned WorldView Legion satellites, which will enhance Maxar Intelligence’s constellation by delivering industry-leading resolution and accuracy. When all six WorldView Legion satellites are launched, it will triple Maxar Intelligence’s capacity to collect 30 cm-class and multispectral imagery. The full Maxar constellation of 10 electro-optical satellites will image the most rapidly changing areas on Earth as frequently as every 20 to 30 minutes, from sunup to sundown. More (Source: SatNews - Apr 17)
DEAD SATELLITES ARE FILLING SPACE WITH TRASH. THAT COULD AFFECT EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD - A dead spacecraft the size of a truck ignites with plasma and pulverizes into dust and litter as it rips through the ionosphere and atmosphere. This is what happens to internet service satellites during re-entry. When the full mega-constellation of satellites is deployed in the 2030s, companies will do this every hour because satellite internet requires thousands of satellites to constantly be replaced. And it could compromise our atmosphere or even our magnetosphere. More (Source: The Guardian - Apr 17)
SPACE FORCE IS PLANNING A MILITARY EXERCISE IN ORBIT - The US Space Force announced Thursday it is partnering with two companies, Rocket Lab and True Anomaly, for a first-of-its-kind mission to demonstrate how the military might counter “on-orbit aggression.” On this mission, a spacecraft built and launched by Rocket Lab will chase down another satellite made by True Anomaly, a Colorado-based startup. “The vendors will exercise a realistic threat response scenario in an on-orbit space domain awareness demonstration called Victus Haze,” the Space Force's Space Systems Command said in a statement. More (Source: WIRED - Apr 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 BOOSTER ON RECORD-BREAKING 20TH FLIGHT - SpaceX shattered multiple records Friday night as it launched 23 satellites for the company’s Starlink internet service from Cape Canaveral. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted offf from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:40 p.m. EDT (0140 UTC). It was the first time a Falcon 9 first-stage booster flew for a 20th time and it came just two days, 20 hours since another Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. That smashes the previous record for the shortest time between launches by 21 hours 24 minutes. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 14)
SUSPECTED SPACE-JUNK STRIKE IN FLORIDA SIGNALS NEW ERA OF ORBITAL DEBRIS - Three years ago astronauts threw out the largest piece of trash ever tossed from the International Space Station. Now some of it seems to have punched a hole through a house in Naples, Fla. In what may be judged as a bizarre and twisted case of “breaking and entering,” last month a plummeting cylindrical object weighing nearly two pounds hit the roof of Alejandro Otero’s home in Naples, Fla., smashed through a ceiling and punched through a floor. More (Source: Scientific American - Apr 14)
FLEET SPACE LAUNCHES CENTAURI-6 SATELLITE ON SPACEX’S BANDWAGON-1 MISSION - Fleet Space Technologies has successfully deployed the company’s Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The addition of Centauri-6 to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation will play a vital role in servicing the global demand for its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with smallsat architectures. More (Source: SatNews - Apr 13)
RUSSIA’S ANGARA A5 ROCKET BLASTS OFF INTO SPACE AFTER TWO ABORTED LAUNCHES - Russia has launched its Angara A5 rocket from a space facility in the country’s far east after technical glitches prompted officials to abort missions at the last minute for two days in a row. Thursday’s launch of the new space vehicle is intended to showcase Russia’s post-Soviet space ambitions, and the growing role played by the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which is located in the forests of the Amur region bordering China. More (Source: Al Jazeera - Apr 13)
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