CHINESE LONG MARCH 11 LAUNCHES WITH THE FIRST HONGYUN SATELLITE - China conducted another orbital launch using a Long March-11 solid fuel rocket on Friday. The launch took place from a mobile launch platform from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 23:51 UTC. Onboard the LM-11 rocket was the first Hongyun satellite. Developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), this is the fist satellite of a vast space-based communications network capable of covering every corner on the Earth, including the Arctic and Antarctica. The satellite mission is to verify low-orbit broadband communication technologies to be used on the Hongyun satellite constellation. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 22)
SPACEX LAUNCH CARRYING GPS III SATELLITE BUILT IN COLORADO RESCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY - One more delay for the SpaceX launch carrying a satellite built at Lockheed Martin in Colorado. Thunderstorms and strong winds are to blame for Thursday’s scrubbed launch. A problem with the computer and strong winds caused a delay on Tuesday and continued concerns about sensors on the rocket caused the delay on Wednesday. The launch is scheduled for Saturday. The new GPS satellite is on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that would put it in orbit. Liftoff has been rescheduled for Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, Florida. More (Source: CBS Denver - Dec 22)
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY OVERHAULS SATELLITE SERVICER PROGRAM - A European Space Agency satellite-deorbiting program that’s been struggling to gain traction with its member states and with industry has been redesigned to be more appealing. ESA is seeking to revive its e.Deorbit program from 2013 by expanding the mission beyond deorbiting a single satellite. Furthermore, the agency is not stipulating that the mission deorbit Envisat, an ESA Earth-observation satellite that shut down unexpectedly in 2012. In a Dec. 21 website post, ESA said a series of studies concluded that widening the scope of the e.Deorbit mission to include more functions such as in-orbit refuel or repair would make it more feasible. More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 22)
FCC FINES SWARM $900,000 FOR UNAUTHORIZED SATELLITE LAUNCH - Swarm Technologies Inc will pay a $900,000 fine for launching and operating four small experimental communications satellites that risked “satellite collisions” and threatened “critical commercial and government satellite operations,” the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday. The California-based start-up founded by former Google and Apple engineers in 2016 also agreed to enhanced FCC oversight and a requirement of pre-launch notices to the FCC for three years. More (Source: Reuters - Dec 22)
SOYUZ CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER A MEMORABLE 6 MONTHS IN SPACE - Three space station crewmembers returned to Earth today (Dec. 20) after a remarkably eventful stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, German astronaut Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev safely touched down on the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan at 12:02 a.m. EST (0502 GMT), one minute ahead of schedule. The trio spent a total of 197 days in space working as part of Expeditions 56 and 57. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 21)
NEW AMATEUR RADIO PACKET GEAR AWAITS UNPACKING, INSTALLATION ON SPACE STATION - New Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet equipment awaits unpacking and installation on board the station after arriving in November as part of the cargo transported via a Russian 71P Progress resupply vehicle. The new packet module for NA1SS will replace the current packet gear, which has been intermittent over the past year. “With the arrival of Progress complete, the crew has to find free time unpack Progress, uninstall the intermittent module, and then set up and test the replacement packet module,” explained Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, senior education manager of the ISS National Laboratory (CASIS), an ARISS sponsor. More (Source: ARRL - Dec 20)
NASA APPROVES SPACE PLANE FOR FUTURE MISSIONS TO THE ISS - A miniature space plane designed to take cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) has been approved by NASA to begin production, with a possible first flight in late 2020. Called the Dream Chaser, the vehicle is being built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) from Sparks, Nevada as part of a NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contract. Yesterday, Tuesday December 18, SNC revealed their spacecraft had passed a key review, and development could now move forward in earnest. More (Source: Forbes - Dec 20)
THREE SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS CLOSE OUT 196-DAY MISSION - Eight days after a dramatic spacewalk to inspect the site of a leak in the hull of his Soyuz ferry ship, Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, German flight engineer Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor geared up to depart the International Space Station Wednesday for a fiery plunge back to Earth. The flight plan called for the crew to board the Soyuz MS-09/55S spacecraft and seal the hatch around 5:20 p.m. EST, undocking from the space station's Earth-facing Rassvet module at 8:40 p.m. More (Source: CBS News - Dec 20)
ARIANESPACE SOYUZ ST-A LAUNCHES WITH CSO-1 - Arianespace conducted its final launch of 2018 on Wednesday, following a scrub – due to strong winds at the launch site – on Tuesday. The launch used a Soyuz rocket to deploy a high-resolution imaging satellite for the French military. Soyuz lifted off from the Centre Spatial Guyanais – near Kourou, French Guiana. Wednesday launch deployed CSO-1, the first of three satellites that will form the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO), or Optical Space Component. These spacecraft will serve the French military, replacing the earlier Helios reconnaissance satellites. To develop the constellation, France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA – Directorate General of Armaments) has entered into a partnership with the national space agency, CNES. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 19)
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