SPACEX LAUNCHES MORE STARLINK SATELLITES, TESTS DESIGN CHANGE FOR ASTRONOMERS - Sixty more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink global Internet network streaked into orbit Monday night from Cape Canaveral, including one spacecraft to test an experimental dark coating to address scientists’ concerns that the thousands of the quarter-ton, flat-panel satellites will impede astronomical observations.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 8)

CHINA'S HEAVIEST SATELLITE POSITIONED IN GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT - China's heaviest and most advanced satellite, Shijian-20, reached its fixed position in geosynchronous orbit Sunday, marking the first successful flight of DFH-5 satellite platform, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The Shijian-20 satellite is the first verification satellite for DFH-5 satellite platform, China's new generation of large geosynchronous orbit satellite platform.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 7)

QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER LOOKS LIKE PURE MAGIC IN ASTRONAUT'S VIEW FROM ISS - Us Earth-bound folks got to experience the annual Quadrantid meteor shower this month as a show of bright lights shooting across the dark night sky. The astronauts on board the International Space Station saw these same meteors, but with a very different backdrop. "Can you see shooting starts [sic] from space? Turns out, yes!" NASA astronaut Christina Koch tweeted on Monday along with a composite image showing what the Quadrantids look like from space.   More
(Source: CNET - Jan 7)

ARISS NEXT-GENERATION RADIO SYSTEM READY FOR LAUNCH - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) reports that its first Interoperable Radio System (IORS) flight unit — serial number 1001 — has been delivered to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for launch in early March. The IORS represents the first major upgrade in ARISS equipment on the International Space Station since Amateur Radio gained a permanent presence onboard the ISS in 2000. In December, ARISS received approval from NASA Safety to launch the IORS on SpaceX CRS-20 and stow the radio system on the ISS for future installation.   More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 7)

ASTRONAUTS SPOT AUSTRALIA'S DEADLY WILDFIRES FROM SPACE STATION AS SATELLITES KEEP WATCH - The horrific wildfires of southeastern Australia right are clearly visible to satellites in space, and now astronauts have begun tracking them from the International Space Station. A new photo, which NASA shared on Twitter Jan. 3, shows billowing smoke that surrounds Sydney and is blowing into the nearby Tasman Sea. At the time, the space station was roughly 269 miles (433 kilometers) above Australia at the time, NASA said in the tweet.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 7)

SPACEX KICK-STARTS GLOBAL 2020 LAUNCH YEAR WITH STARLINK MISSION - NASASpaceFlight.com Forums L2 Sign Up SLS/Orion SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other SpaceX kick-starts global 2020 launch year with Starlink mission written by Chris Gebhardt January 6, 2020 The first rocket flight of the 2020s was conducted by SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 to deliver the newest batch of 60 operational Starlink satellites into orbit. The mission not only represents the start of a busy year for SpaceX but also for the Eastern Range in Florida, which expects 48 launches this year from the Florida Spaceport. Falcon 9 launched midway through a 20-minute window that extended from 21:09 to 21:29 EST (02:09 – 02:29 UTC on 7 January), with the preferred in-plane liftoff targeted for 21:19 EST (02:19 UTC).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 7)

S. KOREAN AIR, OCEAN MONITORING SATELLITE HEADS TO FRENCH GUIANA AHEAD OF LAUNCH - A South Korean geostationary environmental monitoring satellite that can closely check the movement of fine dust and ocean conditions is being moved to French Guiana ahead of its launch, the government said Sunday. The 3.4-ton Chollian-2B, scheduled to be sent into orbit on Feb. 19, has been placed in a specially built non-vibration shipping container in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, where it was built by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.   More
(Source: The Korea Herald - Jan 6)

SPACEX'S NEW STARSHIP PROTOTYPE COULD FLY IN JUST 3 MONTHS, ELON MUSK SAYS - SpaceX's newly redesigned prototype of its Mars-colonizing Starship craft could get off the ground for the first time just two or three months from now, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said. SpaceX initiated that redesign after the first full-size Starship prototype, called the Mk1, blew its top during a pressurization test in November of last year. Construction of the new test vehicle, known as the SN1, is underway at the company's site near the South Texas village of Boca Chica, Musk said via Twitter last week.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 5)

WATCH HOW SPACEX'S CREW DRAGON WILL LAUNCH ASTRONAUTS INTO SPACE IN THIS NEW VIDEO - If you're not yet hyped about the upcoming first crewed flight of SpaceX's astronaut taxi, a new video could help get you there. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk posted the 2.5-minute animation on Twitter on Dec. 29, 2019. It takes viewers through many of the key phases of the Demo-2 mission, during which the company's Crew Dragon capsule will ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 5)

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