CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE CLASSIFIED KIND - The first days of June 2017 were a busy period at the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Dragon CRS-11 cargo ship arrived and berthed, and the Orbital ATK Cygnus OA-7 “S.S. John Glenn” cargo ship unberthed and departed. There was also another spacecraft sneaking up for a close approach, one that was classified and not supposed to be noticed. On June 3, the US military satellite USA 276 approached the ISS to a nominal distance of 6.4 kilometers and effectively circled the ISS in both the cross-track and along-track directions.    More
(Source: The Space Review - Jul 4)

IARU REVISES SATELLITE COORDINATION GUIDELINES TO ALIGN WITH WRC-15 DECISIONS - Starting on August 1, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) will follow revised guidelines for satellite frequency coordination. Educational satellite projects have grown in popularity as launch opportunities have increased. These satellites, constructed by students at universities and other institutions, generally have been licensed to operate in the Amateur-Satellite Service, which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations define as having the “purpose of self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations carried out by amateurs…interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.”   More
(Source: ARRL - Jul 4)

ROCKET FAILURE MAY DELAY CHINA’S SPACE STATION AND MOON MISSIONS - China’s latest space launch has ended in failure. The Long March 5 rocket successfully took off at 11.23am GMT on Sunday from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in China, but after an hour came tumbling back down to Earth due to an abnormality. Once in the air, mission control in Beijing tried to save the rocket by changing its flight plans, but those attempts were unsuccessful. The rocket, along with the experimental communications satellite it was carrying, crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly afterwards.   More
(Source: New Scientist - Jul 4)

SPACEX CRAFT RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER 2ND SPACE STATION TRIP - A SpaceX Dragon capsule that brought supplies to the International Space Station has splashed down as planned in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX announced on Twitter that the Dragon hit the water off the California coast shortly after 5 a.m. Monday. After being released by the space station's robotic arm, the capsule completed a 5?-hour journey back to Earth.   More
(Source: ABC News - Jul 4)

SPACEX SCRUBS SATELLITE LAUNCH JUST BEFORE LIFTOFF AGAIN - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to lift off at 8:35 p.m. EDT today (July 3; 0035 GMT on July 4) from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and carry the 13,000-lb. (6,000 kilograms) Intelsat 35e satellite to orbit. But controllers called off the liftoff with just 10 seconds to go — just as they did yesterday (July 2), Intelsat 35e's original launch date. Yesterday's abort was triggered by a potential issue with the Falcon 9's guidance system and/or the hardware that supports it, SpaceX representatives said yesterday. It was not immediately clear what the cause was today, Falcon 9 principal integration engineer John Insprucker said during SpaceX's launch webcast.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 4)

CHINESE ROCKET LAUNCH FAILS AFTER LIFTOFF - The second launch of China's new-generation Long March-5 carrier rocket failed Sunday -- dealing a blow to the country's ambitious space aspirations. Carrying an experimental communications satellite, China's largest rocket lifted off at 7:23 p.m. local time (7:23 a.m. ET) toward clear skies from the seaside Wenchang space launch center on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. But 40 minutes later, the state-run Xinhua news agency flashed a headline declaring the launch a failure -- without providing any details.    More
(Source: CNN - Jul 3)

SPACEX SCRUBS SUNDAY LAUNCH ATTEMPT, WILL LIKELY TRY AGAIN MONDAY - The weather cooperated just fine on Sunday evening, near sunset in Florida, but the rocket did not. With just 10 seconds to go before liftoff, the on-board computers detected some issue within the rocket's guidance, navigation, and control system. At that point the flight computers stopped the countdown just before the engines were ignited. This forced a 24-hour scrub. If it can diagnose and fix the problem, SpaceX will make a second attempt to launch the Intelsat 35e satellite on Monday, with the launch window opening at, or around, 7:37pm ET.   More
(Source: Ars Tehnica - Jul 3)

A SATELLITE MAY BE FALLING APART IN GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT - On the morning of June 17, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES lost control of a large satellite in geostationary space, nearly 36,000km above the Earth's surface. Shortly after, the satellite operator began working with another company that specializes in space situational awareness to track the drifting machine, AMC-9. A few days ago that company, ExoAnalytic Solutions, saw the AMC-9 satellite begin to fragment. "We have seen several pieces come off of it over the past several days," ExoAnalytic's chief executive officer, Doug Hendrix, told Ars. "We are tracking at least one of the pieces. I would hesitate to say we know for sure what happened."   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Jul 2)

DRAGON SPACECRAFT'S HISTORIC SECOND RETURN TO EARTH: HOW TO WATCH LIVE - On Monday (July 3), the crew of the International Space Station will bid farewell to a Dragon cargo spacecraft, which will head back to Earth with more than 4,100 lbs. (1,900 kilograms) of returning cargo in tow. It's this specific spacecraft's second splashdown: It brought cargo to the space station and safely returned to Earth in 2014 as well. When the cargo craft launched to the space station in June on SpaceX's Falcon 9 spacecraft, it was the first-ever relaunch of a previously used Dragon. Departure coverage will begin at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT), and you can watch it here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 2)

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