RUSSIA MAY LAUNCH 3RD MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE ON DECEMBER 21 - The launch of the third Blagovest military communications satellite is planned for December 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a source in the domestic space industry told TASS on Thursday. "The launch of the Blagovest satellite is planned for December 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Proton-M carrier rocket," the source said. A final decision on the date and on the launch will be made by the state commission, the source said. A source in the space industry earlier told TASS that the Blagovest might be launched in the third ten-day period of December but declined to specify the date.    More
(Source: TASS - Nov 26)

IT WILL SOON BE POSSIBLE TO SEND A SATELLITE TO REPAIR ANOTHER - JET PACKS for satellites. According to Daniel Campbell, the boss of Effective Space, the British and Israeli firm which is building them, that is the way to think of the robotic spacecraft his company plans to start launching in 2020. The purpose of Effective Space’s devices, which it calls SPACE DRONEs, is to prolong the lives of communications satellites (com-sats) that would otherwise be decommissioned for lack of fuel for station-keeping—in other words, for maintaining their proper orbits. At the moment, about two dozen big geosynchronous com-sats (those with orbits exactly 24 hours long, which thus hover continuously over the same spot on Earth) are retired each year, most commonly because of fuel exhaustion.    More
(Source: The Economist - Nov 26)

NASA ANNOUNCES TARGET DATE FOR FIRST SPACEX CREW DRAGON FLIGHT - SpaceX is targeting Jan. 7 for launch of its first Crew Dragon commercial ferry ship on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, NASA announced Wednesday, a major milestone in the agency’s drive to end its sole reliance on Russian Soyuz crew ships for carrying astronauts to orbit. If the shakedown flight goes smoothly — and if a NASA safety probe unveiled Tuesday doesn’t turn up any show stoppers — SpaceX could be ready to launch the first piloted Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket in the June timeframe, carrying veteran NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the space station.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 22)

THANKSGIVING IN ORBIT: HOW ASTRONAUTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SPEND THE HOLIDAY - Three astronauts from the U.S., Germany and Russia are spending Thanksgiving 260 miles above the Earth on the International Space Station. NASA Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor will be taking the day off in space, according to NASA, as will Commander Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. The third member of the Expedition 57 crew, Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, will work a normal day on the orbiting space lab, will work a normal day before joining Auñón-Chancellor and Gerst for the holiday meal.   More
(Source: Fox News - Nov 22)

CREW UNPACKING NEW U.S., RUSSIAN CARGO SHIPS ON STATION’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY - ion’s 20th Anniversary Zarya Module The International Space Station’s first element, the Zarya module, is pictured in December 1998 as space shuttle Endeavour approached. The International Space Station turned 20 years old today with the launch of the first element, the Zarya module, occurring on Nov. 20, 1998. The three-person Expedition 57 crew commemorated the beginning of the orbital lab’s construction during a Facebook Live event today and answered questions submitted via social media. The crew also continues to unpack the newest U.S. and Russian cargo ships to visit the International Space Station today.   More
(Source: NASA - Nov 22)

ARIANESPACE VEGA LAUNCHES SECOND MOROCCAN EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE - An Arianespace Vega rocket launched the Mohammed 6-B satellite for Morocco the evening of Nov. 20, placing the satellite in the same orbit as its twin satellite Mohammed 6-A that launched a year ago, also on a Vega rocket. Liftoff occurred at 8:42 p.m. Eastern from the European spaceport in French Guiana on the northern coast of South America. The 1,100-kilogram satellite separated from the rocket in low Earth orbit about 55 minutes later. The launch completes Morocco’s two-satellite constellation for Earth observation. The country plans to use the satellites for purposes including land mapping, natural-disaster prevention and management, environmental monitoring and border surveillance.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 21)

SPACE STATION GETS 2 CARGO DELIVERIES IN RECORD 15 HOURS - The International Space Station has received two cargo deliveries in a record 15 hours. A U.S. commercial shipment arrived Monday, two days after blasting off from Virginia. NASA Astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor used the space station's robot arm to grab Northrop Grumman's capsule. It's named after Apollo 16 moonwalker and the first space shuttle commander John Young, who died in January. The station's German commander, Alexander Gerst, tweeted, "Welcome aboard, S.S. John Young!"   More
(Source: ABC News - Nov 21)

'AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY OF THINKING': THE ISS CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN SPACE - For two minutes, NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao could see nothing but blue-marbled Earth swirling above his head. "Surreal" is how he described the moment. Chiao was in the middle of a lengthy spacewalk to assemble part of the International Space Station, an orbiting laboratory the likes of which had never been seen before. Today (Nov. 20) marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the station's first component, made possible by the contribution of hundreds of engineers, space shuttle astronauts like Chiao, international support and the crews who continue launching up to this day. It has been continuously occupied since Nov. 2, 2000.   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 21)

CHINA’S LATEST BEIDOU SATELLITE LAUNCH CLEARS WAY FOR CHANG’E-4 LUNAR FAR SIDE MISSION - An enhanced Long March 3B with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 2:07 p.m. Eastern Nov. 18 sending two Beidou satellites directly into medium Earth orbits at around 21,500 kilometers altitude. The launch was consistent with airspace closure notices issued Nov. 15, with amateur images and footage (link in Chinese) providing the first evidence of the activity. Mission success was confirmed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the space program, just over four hours after launch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 20)

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