CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE GROUP - China successfully launched the Tianhui 5-02 satellite group at 6:49 a.m. Friday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province. The satellite group was carried by a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket and has entered the planned orbits. This group of satellites will be used for geographic mapping, land resource surveys, scientific experiments and other purposes. It was the 527th mission of the Long March series carrier rockets.   More
(Source: www.gov.cn - Jul 6)

NASA ASTRONAUTS SEND FOURTH OF JULY MESSAGE TO EARTH FROM ISS - The six NASA astronauts who are living off planet at the moment just beamed a special birthday message down to their home country. Mike Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore each took a turn at the mic, saying a few words about the Fourth of July from their perch aboard the International Space Station (ISS), about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 6)

AIRBUS BUILT, COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2C CLIMATE SATELLITE HEADING FOR LAUNCH SITE - After road transport from Airbus in Friedrichshafen to Bremen on 2 July, the Airbus-built Sentinel-2C satellite, the third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, is about to be shipped to the European spaceport in French Guiana. The container has been loaded today onto the iconic Canopée, the first sail-assisted cargo ship designed specifically to transport Ariane 6 rocket components from European ports to the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, where it will arrive in approximately two weeks.   More
(Source: ASDNews - Jul 5)

BLUE ORIGIN, STOKE SPACE SELECTED BY U.S. SPACE FORCE TO COMPETE FOR SMALL SATELLITE MISSIONS - The U.S. Space Force has added Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies to its roster of launch providers eligible to compete for short-turnaround small-satellite missions under the Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4) contract. OSP-4, an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, was established by the Air Force in 2019 to leverage emerging commercial launch capabilities. IDIQ contracts allow for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period, with the government placing orders as needs arise.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 5)

FIREFLY SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED ALPHA ON NOISE OF SUMMER MISSION - After six months of preparation following its last flight, Firefly successfully launched the Alpha rocket on its fifth mission. After deciding to stand down from a July 2 launch attempt while teams evaluated and tested the systems responsible for aborting the launch on Monday, July 1, Firefly took off at 9:04 PM PDT on July 3 (4:04 UTC on July 4). The mission, named Noise of Summer, launched eight CubeSats to a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) from Space Launch Complex-2W (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. NSF is providing livestream production services to Firefly, with the stream starting at T-30 minutes and available on the NASASpaceflight YouTube channel.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jul 4)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA EARLY ON JULY 3 AFTER DELAY - SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (July 3), following a two-hour delay. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 UTC). While the launch was delayed due to technical issues, the three-hour window for liftoff opened at 2:57 a.m. EDT (0601 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 4)

RUSSIA PLANS TO CREATE CORE OF NEW SPACE STATION BY 2030 - Russia is aiming to create the four-module core of its planned new orbital space station by 2030, its Roscosmos space agency said on Tuesday. The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, signed off on the timetable with the directors of 19 enterprises involved in creating the new station. The agency confirmed plans to launch an initial scientific and energy module in 2027. It said three more modules would be added by 2030 and a further two between 2031 and 2033.   More
(Source: Reuters - Jul 4)

NEW SATELLITE TO SHOW HOW AI ADVANCES EARTH OBSERVATION - Artificial intelligence technologies have achieved remarkable successes and continue to show their value as backbones in scientific research and real-world applications. ESA’s new Φsat-2 mission, launching in the coming weeks, will push the boundaries of AI for Earth observation – demonstrating the transformative potential of AI for space technology.    More
(Source: European Space Agency - Jul 3)

NASA INVITES MEDIA TO NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S 21ST STATION RESUPPLY LAUNCH - Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency and will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting early August to launch the Cygnus spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 3)

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