SPACEX TESTS BLACK SATELLITE TO REDUCE “MEGACONSTELLATION” THREAT TO ASTRONOMY - The aerospace company SpaceX launched 60 of its Starlink broadband Internet satellites into orbit on 6 January — including one, called DarkSat, that is partially painted black. The probe is testing one strategy to reduce the brightness of satellite ‘megaconstellations’, which scientists fear could interfere with astronomical observations. Various companies plan to launch thousands of Internet satellites in the coming years; SpaceX, of Hawthorne, California, aims to launch 24 batches of Starlinks this year.    More
(Source: Scientific American - Jan 11)

AUSTRALIA'S DEADLY WILDFIRES IN PHOTOS: THE VIEW FROM SPACE - Fueled by a lengthy and intensifying drought, an early kickoff to fire season in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales began in September 2019 and continued into early 2020. Upwards of 100 wildfires have devastated Australia's southeast coast, killing at least 17 people. Satellites from NASA and other agencies are tracking the deadly wildfires from space. Scroll down to photos of Australia's wildfires from space.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 11)

SPACEX PLANS TO BLOW UP A ROCKET OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN NEXT WEEK (AND YOU CAN WATCH IT LIVE) - SpaceX and NASA are working together to blow up a rocket over the Atlantic Ocean. The experiment, called an in-flight abort test, will likely lead to the destruction of a Falcon 9 rocket in what SpaceX is referring to as “rapid scheduled disassembly.” That test was supposed to happen this week but has since been pushed to January 18 to allow “additional time for spacecraft processing,” NASA said earlier this week.    More
(Source: TNW - Jan 10)

NASA MAY MAKE BOEING REDO FAILED TEST FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - NASA is opening an independent investigation with Boeing over a software glitch that prevented its unmanned astronaut capsule from reaching the International Space Station in December, the agency said on Tuesday. Boeing's CST-100 Starliner astronaut capsule had a successful launch for its first unmanned test mission, but what has been described as an automated timer error prevented the spacecraft from attaining the correct orbit for it to rendezvous and dock with the space station.   More
(Source: CBC.ca - Jan 10)

NEXT SPACE STATION RESUPPLY MISSION SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH FROM WALLOPS FEBRUARY 9 - The next Northrup Grumman Antares launch to the International Space Station is scheduled for February 9 at the Wallops Flight Facility. The scheduled lift off will be at 5:39 pm from pad 0A. This will be the 13th resupply mission to the ISS to launch from Wallops. This resupply mission will transport the following experiments to the space station.   More
(Source: Shore Daily News - Jan 10)

SPACEX TESTS BLACK SATELLITE TO REDUCE 'MEGACONSTELLATION' THREAT TO ASTRONOMY - The aerospace company SpaceX launched 60 of its Starlink broadband-internet satellites into orbit on 6 January — including one, called DarkSat, that is partially painted black. The probe is testing one strategy to reduce the brightness of satellite ‘megaconstellations’, which scientists fear could interfere with their astronomical observations. Various companies plan to launch thousands of internet satellites in the coming years; SpaceX, of Hawthorne, California, aims to launch 24 batches of Starlinks this year.    More
(Source: Nature - Jan 9)

COMPANIES' PLANS FOR SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS 'PUT NIGHT SKY AT RISK' - The spectacular view of the heavens on a clear, dark night is under threat from plans to launch tens of thousands of satellites that will be visible tearing across the sky, astronomers have been told. Tech firms have begun to place a number of satellite “mega constellations” into low Earth orbit in a move designed to expand internet access and open new markets in the developing world.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Jan 9)

SATELLITE PHOTOS REVEAL EXTENT OF DAMAGE FROM IRANIAN STRIKE ON AIR BASE IN IRAQ - Satellite photos taken Wednesday show that an Iranian missile strike has caused extensive damage at the Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq, which hosts U.S. and coalition troops. The photos, taken by the commercial company Planet and shared with NPR via the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, show hangars and buildings hit hard by a barrage of Iranian missiles that were fired early Wednesday morning local time.   More
(Source: NPR - Jan 9)

THIS SATELLITE WILL DELIVER TWICE THE CAPABILITY OF THE CURRENT CONSTELLATION - The next satellite in the Air Force’s Wideband Global SATCOM family of satellites will be able to deliver twice the capability of the entire constellation to war fighters thanks to commercial technology. WGS 11, which is slated for delivery from prime contractor Boeing in 2023, will provide more coverage beams and more beam formed bandwidth than previous WGS satellites, the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced in a Jan. 2 press release.   More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Jan 8)

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