PRIVATE SPACE COMPANY SWARM FINED MORE THAN $1 MILLION OVER UNAUTHORISED SATELLITE LAUNCH - There are warnings about "runaway cowboy-like behaviour" from private companies joining the space race after a US tech start-up was slapped with a historic fine last month for launching unauthorised satellites. Swarm Technologies was fined $US900,000 ($1.28 million) on December 21 for launching four mini satellites in January 2018 after explicitly being denied permission by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over concerns about the ability to track them.   More
(Source: ABC News - Jan 3)

MEMORABLE NEWS SATELLITE PHOTOS OF 2018 - From Russian war games to lava flows on Hawaii to raging fires in California, images gathered from high above Earth by satellites in 2018 delivered a unique perspective on humanity, geopolitics and the forces of nature that have upended lives and landscape. Here’s a look at eight of the most striking news images captured by satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe — and photos made by Associated Press photographers who were on the ground...   More
(Source: Associated Press - Jan 2)

2018 SHOWCASED THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PROGRAM’S ELASTICITY - The 20th year of International Space Station operations continued to show hundreds of of science experiments can be performed while managing a dozen different visiting vehicles and multiple spacewalks throughout the year. Moreover, it showcased the international partner space agencies’ ability to handle and recover from large unexpected events. But perhaps the two most noteworthy events that happened in the space station program in 2018 were the discovery of a hole in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft in August, causing a slow pressure leak, and the dramatic in-flight abort of Soyuz MS-10 in October, preventing NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin from reaching orbit, let alone the outpost.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Jan 1)

SA SENDS AFRICA'S MOST ADVANCED SATELLITE TO SPACE - A 10kg satellite designed by South African engineers is floating in space, watching over the country’s coastline and sending home real-time information about impending natural disasters. The ZACube-2, worth R16.5million, is the first of a “constellation of satellites” that the Department of Science and Technology is planning to send to space to collect data. The satellite was launched in Russia this week, as part of the Russian Soyuz Kanopus mission and is the most advanced satellite in Africa.   More
(Source: Independent Online - Dec 31)

CHINA DEBUTS NEW UPPER STAGE IN FINAL LAUNCH OF THE YEAR - A Chinese Long March 2D booster climbed into orbit from the Jiuquan space base in the northwest of the country Saturday, delivering seven small satellites to space on communications and weather research missions with the help of a new upper stage capable of firing more than 20 times over two days. With more than 650,000 pounds of thrust, the liquid-fueled Long March 2D rocket took off at 0800 GMT (3 a.m. EST; 4 p.m. Beijing time) Saturday from Jiuquan, a remote military base in the Gobi Desert. Heading toward the southeast, the Long March 2D’s two main stages fired before giving way to a new upper stage to maneuver the mission’s six payloads into two distinct orbits.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 31)

DELTA 4-HEAVY LAUNCH WITH SPY SATELLITE PUSHED BACK TO JANUARY - After unusual concentrations of hydrogen around the rocket foiled a launch attempt Dec. 19, United Launch Alliance said Friday that the company’s powerful Delta 4-Heavy launcher and a U.S. government spy satellite will remain grounded in California until at least Jan. 6 as engineers troubleshoot a small fuel leak. ULA has tried to send the Delta 4-Heavy skyward four times since Dec. 7, but technical problems and unfavorable weather have kept the rocket on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 29)

CHINA’S BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITE, RIVAL TO US GPS, STARTS GLOBAL SERVICES - China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted as a rival to the widely-used American GPS, has started providing global services. The construction of the BDS-3 primary system had been completed, BDS spokesperson Ran Chengqi said Thursday. “This signifies that BDS has officially entered the global era as the BDS expands from a regional system to a global navigation system. From now on, no matter where you go, BDS will always be with you,” Ran said at a media conference here said.   More
(Source: Livemint - Dec 28)

CHINA TO LAUNCH FIRST SATELLITE FOR HONGYAN GLOBAL INTERNET SATELLITE CONSTELLATION ON SATURDAY - China's main space contractor is set to carry out its first launch for a 300-plus satellite communications constellation to provide global internet from low Earth orbit on Saturday. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is set to launch Hongyan-1 on a Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert around 08:00 UTC Saturday (03:00 Eastern, 16:00 Beijing time) according to airspace closure notices.   More
(Source: GBTIMES - Dec 28)

SATELLITE SHOWS COLLAPSE OF INDONESIAN VOLCANO - Radar data from satellites, converted into images, shows Indonesia’s Anak Krakatoa island volcano is dramatically smaller following a weekend eruption that triggered a deadly tsunami. Satellite photos aren’t available because of cloud cover, but radar images from a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency satellite taken before and after the eruption show the volcano’s southwestern flank has disappeared.   More
(Source: Voice of America - Dec 28)

Previous Next