SPACEX’S BRISK STARLINK LAUNCH CADENCE TO CONTINUE NEXT WEEK - SpaceX plans to launch its next group of Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Monday, Jan. 20, from Cape Canaveral, two days after the company is scheduled to launch a modified Falcon 9 booster from a separate facility at the Florida spaceport to test the Crew Dragon spaceship’s emergency escape system. SpaceX’s ability to achieve back-to-back launch schedule hinges on several factors, including an expected test-firing in the coming days of the Falcon 9 booster slated to fly on the next Starlink launch.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)

UAE’S FALCON EYE 2 SATELLITE SWITCHED FROM VEGA TO SOYUZ - Arianespace will launch the United Arab Emirates’ Falcon Eye 2 reconnaissance satellite on a Soyuz in March instead of waiting for the company’s much smaller Vega rocket to return to flight, Arianespace and Airbus Defence and Space told SpaceNews. Vega has been grounded since a July failure that destroyed the UAE’s Falcon Eye 1 satellite, resulting in a record $415 million insurance claim. Prior to the failure, Vega was scheduled to launch again in November carrying Falcon Eye 2.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 14)

INDIA TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE TO COVER GULF, ASIAN COUNTRIES AND AUSTRALIA - With increasing demand to provide satellite bandwidth for television, telecommunication and broadcasting services, India's national space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built a new satellite, GSAT-30. GSAT-30, with a payload weight of 3,357 kilograms is to be launched by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the European Spaceport in French Guiana on Friday (17 January) at 0235 Hrs IST.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 14)

FIRST SPACEBUS NEO SATELLITE SET FOR LAUNCH - The first satellite developed under an initiative to help European industry deliver competitive satellites for the commercial telecommunications market has entered its final phase before launch. Konnect will provide broadband services for Europe and Africa, and was built by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat, its commercial operator, under an ESA Partnership Project.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 14)

PUTIN'S “SATELLITE KILLER” BROKE UP IN SPACE - The Russian military, it seems, continue to experience problems with the operation of spacecraft created to establish hegemony in space. So, shortly after the collapse of the military spacecraft (SC) “Space-2535”, it was reported that collapsed and the satellite “Cosmos-2491”, the media called “satellite killer.” This property was relatively new: the orbit brought him in 2013, writes Inforesist.   More
(Source: SatNews Publishers - Jan 14)

AEHF SATELLITE ARRIVES IN FLORIDA FOR FIRST OF NEARLY 20 SPACE FORCE LAUNCHES THIS YEAR - The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. military’s network of ultra-secure, nuclear-hardened AEHF communications relay stations has arrived in Florida for final preparations for liftoff in March on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, the first of nearly 20 U.S. Space Force missions planned for launch in the first year of operations for the new military service.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)

SPACE JUNK: HOW CLUTTERED IS THE FINAL FRONTIER? - Since the dawn of Sputnik in 1957, space-faring nations have been filling Earth's orbital highways with satellites: GPS, weather forecasting, telecommunications. Decades later, orbital debris is a growing problem. Orbital debris, commonly known as "space junk," exists at all levels of orbit, but is especially concentrated in low Earth orbit. Space junk has the potential to damage working satellites and crewed spacecraft, including the International Space Station.    More
(Source: NPR - Jan 14)

TWO NEW SATELLITES WILL LAUNCH THIS YEAR TO TRACK EARTH'S RISING OCEANS - Two new satellites will provide more detailed information about rising sea levels and other ocean changes on Earth. Launching in November, the Sentinel-6/Jason Continuity of Service mission (Jason-CS) will be the longest-running Earth observation mission dedicated to studying the rising oceans. The spacecraft will provide the most sensitive water level measurements as it reveals details about rising oceans, helping to build nearly 40 years of sea level records.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 13)

SPACEX TESTS ROCKET FOR CRITICAL CREW DRAGON IN-FLIGHT ABORT LAUNCH ON JAN. 18 - SpaceX has fired up the booster that will fly the company’s upcoming in-flight abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft. The uncrewed mission will test a vital safety system designed to protect astronauts during flight. SpaceX plans to use its Crew Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but before that can happen, the company needs to prove that the spacecraft has what it takes to keep those astronauts safe in the event of a catastrophic rocket failure.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 13)

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