WE JUST LOST ANOTHER CRITICAL CLIMATE SATELLITE - One of climate change’s most important biographers — a 2,700-pound satellite orbiting 450 miles above the surface of the Earth — just recorded its last data point. Earlier this month, the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced that, after nine years and five months in orbit, the satellite known as F17 had stopped transmitting sea ice measurements. That’s not unusual — satellites in F17’s series, all named sequentially, are normally expected to last about five years, though some make it much longer. But F17’s failure could preempt the end of the series entirely. Walter Meier, a sea ice researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, called the satellite program “one of the longest, most iconic datasets” illustrating climate change, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic.   More
(Source: Grist - Apr 27)

CHINA TO LAUNCH SPACE STATION IN 2018, AIMS TO BECOME NEXT 'SPACE GIANT' - The Chinese recently celebrated Space Day with the proclamation of their mission to Mars. But they set their eyes for more than that. China wanted to become the next space giant and in order to make that happen, they are developing their own Space Station which is scheduled to be launched in 2018. During the recent Space Day celebration, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his desire to make China a "space giant".    More
(Source: Nature World News - Apr 27)

ÑUSAT-1 TO CARRY AMSAT ARGENTINA LINEAR TRANSPONDER – LAUNCH SCHEDULED FOR MAY 30, 2016 - The Argentinian earth observation satellite ÑuSat-1 will carry a linear transponder built by AMSAT Argentina. The satellite is scheduled to launch on a CZ-4B rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China on May 30, 2016 into a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.5 degrees and a Local Time of the Ascending Node (LTAN) of 10:30. The AMSAT Argentina U/v inverting transponder, named LUSEX, wiil have an uplink of 435.935 MHz to 435.965 MHz and a downlink of 145.935 MHz to 145.965 MHz. Total power output is 250 mW. There will also be a CW beacon at 145.900 MHz with a power output of 70 mW.   More
(Source: AMSAT - Apr 27)

THREE NEW CUBESATS NOW IN ORBIT - Signals have been received from the three CubeSats launched April 25 on Soyuz flight VS14 from the Kourou spaceport in South America. The three CubeSats were developed by student teams under the European Space Agency (ESA) Education Office “Fly Your Satellite!” program, which is aimed at training the next generation of aerospace professionals. The satellites are OUFTI-1, Université of Liège, Belgium; e-st@r-II, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy; AAUSAT-4, University of Aalborg, Denmark.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 27)

SECOND EU RADAR SENTINEL SATELLITE LAUNCHES - The European Space Agency has launched a second radar satellite into the EU's new Sentinel constellation. Sentinel-1b was carried into orbit by a Soyuz rocket that flew out of Sinamary in French Guiana. The new platform will monitor shipping lanes for pollution and icebergs, and survey land surfaces for evidence of subsidence - to name just three of the myriad applications for radar imagery. Sentinel-1b will work alongside the 1a spacecraft, which was launched in 2014. Operating in the same orbit but separated by 180 degrees, the pair will be able to map the entire Earth every six days.   More
(Source: BBC News - Apr 25)

WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION GOES KAPUT IN 2024, WHAT COMES NEXT? - Moving day is fast approaching. Sometime in 2023 or 2024, the Russians have said they will abandon the International Space Station. Assuming they carry through on this plan, detaching their modules from ISS and using them to build an all-Russian station, the station could soon become uninhabitable. That's then, however. For now, the International Space Station is still growing -- thanks to Bigelow Aerospace. Last week, a SpaceX rocket (yes, the same one that just landed on a boat) delivered to ISS its first-ever Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).   More
(Source: Motley Fool - Apr 25)

SOYUZ LAUNCH DELAYED FOR THIRD DAY IN A ROW - Liftoff of a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana was delayed again Sunday due to a technical problem with the booster discovered in the countdown sequence. The Soyuz is supposed to launch with five satellites, including the next spacecraft for Europe’s multibillion-dollar Earth observing network and a French experiment to probe the validity of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 24)

SUITSAT MIGHT BE THE CREEPIEST SATELLITE EVER - On February 3, 2006, commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev stepped outside the ISS for a spacewalk. Cameras gave audiences watching the live feed on NASA TV a view of the men working, half obscured by solar panels. Then the cameras showed a body floating off into space. Tokarev nonchalantly bid adieu to his untethered colleague with an unceremonious “Goodbye, Mr. Smith.” The figure might have looked like a man, but it wasn’t. It was Suitsat, which is perhaps the creepiest satellite of all time. The story of Suitsat can’t be told without the story of the Orlan spacesuit.   More
(Source: Popular Science - Apr 24)

BE THE FIRST TO CATCH A SIGNAL FROM FLY YOUR SATELLITE! FROM SPACE - It is time to start listening to space. To celebrate the upcoming launch of the three Fly Your Satellite! student-built CubeSats into low Earth orbit, ESA’s Education office challenges the amateur radio community to listen out for the tiny satellites. The first three radio amateurs to send a recorded signal from either AAUSAT4, E-st@r-II or OUFTI-1 will receive a prize from ESA's Education Office. The satellites will be launched on 24 April onboard the Soyuz VS-14 flight from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.    More
(Source: ESA - Apr 24)

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