BOEING STARLINER STUCK ON SPACE STATION AS MORE LEAKS DISCOVERED - After years of delays and technical problems, Boeing's Starliner finally made it to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board last week. But when exactly it'll be able to undock and deliver its crew of two back to the surface remains to be seen. Teams have discovered an astonishing five different helium leaks so far, each representing yet another thorn in the spacecraft's already cursed development. The gas is "used in spacecraft thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire" while navigating through space, according to Boeing.   More
(Source: Yahoo - Jun 14)

SPACEX LAUNCHING 22 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA JUNE 13 - SpaceX is scheduled to launch 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit from Florida's Space Coast on Thursday (June 13). The Starlink satellites will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a two-hour window that opens at 4:46 p.m. EDT (2046 GMT). SpaceX had planned to launch the mission on Wednesday evening (June 12) but pushed the try back by about 24 hours.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 13)

NASA'S GATEWAY SPACE STATION HALO MODULE MOVES CLOSER TO LAUNCH - NASA's Gateway space station is moving closer to a launch after welding recently was completed on a module in Turin, Italy, the agency said Monday. The Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, is one of four modules in which astronauts will live, conduct science and prepare for lunar surface missions. The launch of Gateway is scheduled no earlier than 2025. In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $331.8 million contract to launch the first two pieces of the outpost aboard the company's powerful Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida to the moon.   More
(Source: UPI - Jun 12)

LAUNCH ROUNDUP: FALCON 9’S BUSY LAUNCH CADENCE CONTINUES - Following an extremely eventful week in Spaceflight, this coming week returns to “business as usual.” Two SpaceX Starlink missions, one each from Vandenberg and Florida, and a Falcon 9 launching a customer satellite make up the launches for the week. SpaceX is preparing Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center for the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U satellite on June 25. Due to this, Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) is taking the full brunt of launches from the east coast and, in doing so, is seeing remarkable turnaround times for every launch.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 11)

THIS IS WHERE SATELLITES GO TO DIE - The sky is full of satellites, and they're central to modern life. The internet, GPS, and telecommunications all rely on the massive hunks of metal that are constantly orbiting the earth at thousands of miles per hour. More are being added every year, with Elon Musk's Starlink alone claiming to have over 6,000 active satellites as of early 2024.    More
(Source: SlashGear - Jun 10)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 FLIGHT FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE - SpaceX kicked off the weekend with the launch of another batch of its Starlink satellites. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-8, added 20 more satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation, including 13 that have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened 5:58 a.m. PDT (8:58 a.m. EDT, 1258 UTC). The launch came less than 12 hours after SpaceX launched 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and roughly 48 hours after launching the fourth flight of its Starship rocket from southern Texas.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 FLIGHT FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX followed up its fourth test flight of its massive Starship rocket in southern Texas with a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Friday night flight marked the 344th Falcon 9 to launch, a little more than 14 years after its launch debut on June 4, 2010. The Starlink 10-1 mission added another 22 satellites to the massive constellation consisting of more than 6,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit, according to expert orbital tracker and astronomer, Jonathan McDowell. Liftoff from pad 40 happened at 9:56 p.m. EDT (0156 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)

STARLINER CREW WELCOMED ABOARD SPACE STATION - Working around multiple helium leaks and thruster problems, the crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft wrapped up a challenging rendezvous and a delayed-but-successful docking with the International Space Station Thursday in a major milestone for the new ship’s first piloted test flight. With commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams monitoring the Starliner’s automated approach, the Starliner’s docking mechanism engaged its counterpart on the front of the station’s forward Harmony module at 1:34 p.m. EDT as the two spacecraft were sailing 260 miles above the Indian Ocean.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 8)

THRUSTER GLITCHES AND HELIUM LEAKS CAN'T STOP BOEING'S STARLINER ASTRONAUT TEST FLIGHT — BUT WHY ARE THEY HAPPENING? - When NASA astronauts tried to dock Boeing's first crewed Starliner spacecraft at the International Space Station Thursday (June 6), they had to wait. Five aft thrusters on the Starliner service module were out. And that was after flight controllers found workarounds for two new helium leaks on the spacecraft on top of one it already had. Also, its cooling system was using more water than expected, and another helium leak would be detected later after Starliner docked with the space station. So what gives? Why all the glitches?   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 7)

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