SOYUZ MS-06 RETURNS THREE ISS CREW MEMBERS TO EARTH - Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos have returned from the International Space Station (ISS) in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft. The trio landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan around 02:31 UTC. During their 168 days in space, they were part of the first expedition that began a long-term increase in the crew size on the U.S. segment from three people to four, enabling NASA to double the time dedicated to research – surpassing 100 hours of research in one week.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 1)

SECOND OF NOAA’S “HIGH-DEFINITION” WEATHER SATELLITES READY FOR LAUNCH - The second satellite in a quartet of new NOAA weather observatories is awaiting liftoff Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, heading for a position 22,000 miles from Earth to scan the western United States and Pacific Ocean for typhoons, wildfires and fog. The GOES-S weather satellite, to be renamed GOES-17 once in orbit, is bolted on top of a 197-foot-tall (60-meter) Atlas 5 rocket set for launch from Cape Canaveral at 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT) Thursday. The launch window extends for two hours, and the official weather outlook calls for an 80 percent probability of favorable conditions.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 1)

NEW SATELLITE WILL SHIFT SHAPE WHILE IN SPACE - While the U.S. and Russia often steal the scene when it comes to wondrous space missions, in Europe the U.K is launching a new satellite that is sure to surprise its international partners. The Eutelsat Quantum satellite, built by the firm Airbus, will be the first commercial satellite equipped to shapeshift while in orbit. Operators will be able to reconfigure the satellite in real time, modifying elements such as its frequency and the areas of the earth it covers. Speaking with Phys.org, Yohann Leroy, deputy CEO of French satellite operator Eutelsat, said that “what is really new is the level of flexibility that the satellite will provide […] thanks to a combination of technologies that we will put on board the satellite.”   More
(Source: Futurism - Feb 28)

RUSSIA CLAIMS IT NOW HAS LASERS TO SHOOT SATELLITES - A defense source tells Russian media that military engineers have advanced work on the next big anti-satellite weapon. Russian defense companies have created a plane-mounted laser that can hit satellites — at least according to an anonymous source quoted by Russian news agency Interfax. On Saturday, an Interfax report cited the source as saying that weapons maker Almaz-Antey has “completed work on the anti-satellite complex,” which includes the laser and associated ground control gear.   More
(Source: Defense One - Feb 28)

STATION HATCHES CLOSED, TRIO PREPARES TO HEAD HOME - At 2:58 p.m. EST, the hatch closed between the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking. Expedition 54 crewmates Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos are scheduled to undock their Soyuz at 6:08 p.m. NASA Television will air live coverage of undocking beginning at 5:45 p.m.   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 28)

EUTELSAT QUANTUM — EUROPE'S NEW-GENERATION ULTRA-FLEXIBLE SATELLITE - This Monday, Eutelsat, Airbus and ESA presented the new Quantum satellite in Portsmouth, UK. A communications satellite of the latest generation, it is much more versatile than anything that came before. On July 9th 2015, less than three years ago, Eutelsat, Airbus, and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed an agreement for the construction of a telecommunications satellite called the "Quantum" that would be very different from all its predecessors. And now construction is finished: On Monday, the engineering partners presented the Quantum in the British coastal town of Portsmouth, with ESA astronaut Tim Peake in attendance.    More
(Source: Deutsche Welle - Feb 27)

JAPAN LAUNCHES H-2A ROCKET CARRYING RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE - Japan on Tuesday launched an H-2A rocket carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan. The optical reconnaissance satellite will be used for such purposes as monitoring developments at North Korean missile launch facilities, increasing the number of the nation's intelligence-gathering satellites to seven. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. launched the H-2A F38 rocket from JAXA's launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture.   More
(Source: Kyodo News Plus - Feb 27)

SPACE HOTELS COULD BE REALITY BY 2021 - For many of us, space tourism seems pretty far off. But according to the Daily Mail, the ultra-wealthy could be making reservations in a space hotel as early as 2021. Once again, we are all super jealous of rich people and their extravagant travel plans. Billionaire hotel mogul, Robert Bigelow, founder of private space company Bigelow Aerospace, has announced the company’s plans to send an inflatable hotel into orbit and create a new space station.   More
(Source: Travel Weekly - Feb 27)

JAPANESE SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED BY POOR WEATHER FORECAST - A bad weather forecast has prompted Japanese space officials to delay the launch of an H-2A rocket with a high-resolution government-owned reconnaissance satellite by at least 48 hours until Monday night, U.S. time. Ground crews at the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan’s primary spaceport in the southwestern part of the country, will keep the H-2A rocket protected inside a vertical assembly building before rollout to the launch pad around a half-day before liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 25)

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