SOYUZ ST-A LAUNCH WITH SENTINEL-1B MOVED TO SATURDAY - Russia’s Soyuz ST-A rocket launch with the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1B spacecraft and four small satellites has been moved to Saturday due to unacceptable weather for Friday’s attempt. In what will be the rocket’s first launch of the year from its South American launch site. Liftoff is scheduled for 18:02:13 local time (21:02 UTC). Soyuz operates from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, in Kourou, French Guiana as part of a trio of rockets operated by Arianespace – alongside the smaller Vega and the larger Ariane 5.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 22)

FRENCH SATELLITE PUTS EINSTEIN TO THE TEST - A Russian rocket carrying a French satellite to test a German theory is scheduled for launch on Friday. At 21:02 GMT, the Soyuz rocket will blast off from Kourou, Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, carrying the experiment. Microscope, which stands for Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l’Observation du Principe d’Equivalence, is designed to test the very heart of Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity, which gives us our best description yet of gravity. Known as the principle of equivalence, it is derived from Galileo’s 17th century experiment to drop different masses from a tower to show that both hit the ground at the same time.    More
(Source: The Guardian - Apr 22)

CHINA TO LAUNCH 'CORE MODULE' FOR SPACE STATION AROUND 2018 - China will launch a "core module" for its first space station some time around 2018, a senior official told the state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday, part of a plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. Advancing China's space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power, and apart from its civilian ambitions Beijing has tested anti-satellite missiles. China insists its space program is for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.   More
(Source: Reuters - Apr 22)

SOME SCIENCE COMING FROM JAPAN'S AILING HITOMI SATELLITE - Japan's troubled Hitomi satellite managed to collect some science data before going silent last month, scientists said. Officials haven't heard from the Hitomi X-ray astronomy satellite since late March, about six weeks after the satellite's launch, and the craft appears to have broken into several pieces. But Hitomi did manage to complete two scientific measurements before the trouble hit, said Ann Hornschemeier, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 21)

OUFTI-1 TELEMETRY DECODER APP - The OUFTI-1 D-STAR CubeSat team have released the format of the CW telemetry beacon and a Decoder App. The launch, on a Russian Soyuz-STA Fregat-M from Kourou in South America, is expected to take place at 21:02:13 UT on Friday, April 22, 2016. OUFTI-1 is a nano-satellite entirely developed by the students of the University of Liege (ULg), Belgium, along with two other engineering schools. It is the first satellite to carry a dedicated amateur radio D-STAR transponder. OUFTI-1 amateur radio information including Keps http://events.ulg.ac.be/oufti-1/radioamateurs/   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 21)

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN TO ORBIT COSTA RICA’S FIRST SATELLITE SURPASSES GOAL - As of Monday evening, Central America’s first satellite is one step closer to orbit. Less than 48 hours before deadline, just over 800 sponsors made it possible to surpass the crowdfunding campaign’s goal of $75,000 needed to send the region’s first satellite into space. The 10-centimeter (4-inch) satellite, known as a picosatellite, is the key element of the Irazú Project, named after Costa Rica’s highest volcano, located in Cartago province. Instruments on the satellite will take real-time measurements of temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide fixation. Data will be collected in a forest in Los Chiles, a mountainous area near Costa Rica’s border with Nicaragua, and will be used to evaluate the effects of climate change on forests.   More
(Source: The Tico Times - Apr 20)

15 YEARS OF EUROPE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - On 23 April 2001, Italian ESA Umberto Guidoni made history as the first European astronaut to board the International Space Station. Guidoni had been launched on four days earlier, on 19 April, on Space Shuttle Endeavour as part of its seven-strong STS-100 crew from Kennedy Space Centre, with a liftoff at 20:41 CEST. The 11-day STS-100 mission was the ninth Shuttle visit to the Space Station and would feature two space walks. The Shuttle docked with the International Space Station some 260 km above Earth on 21 April. The hatches between Endeavour and the Space Station were opened another two days later, on 23 April, allowing the Shuttle crew and Station occupants to greet one another for the first time.   More
(Source: Satellite PR News - Apr 20)

DOOR NOW OPEN TO LAUNCH EDUCATIONAL HITCHHIKERS ON ATLAS 5 ROCKETS FOR FREE - United Launch Alliance has begun accepting applications from colleges and universities across the U.S. to compete for free cubesat launch slots aboard upcoming Atlas 5 rockets. The educational opportunity will use excess performance aboard rockets launching to space to carry the tiny student-made craft made of science and technology experiments. “Universities pioneered cubesat development, and there is a growing need for launch access and availability,” said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO. “Our goal is to eventually add university cubesat slots to nearly every Atlas and Vulcan Centaur launch – with potential for 100 rides per year.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 19)

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD AS SATELLITE RETURNS TO EARTH - The re-entry capsule of China’s first retrievable microgravity satellite, SJ-10, returned safely to Earth yesterday, marking a solid step forward in space science research and application. The capsule, which was launched on April 6, touched down about 4:30pm at the planned landing area in Siziwang Banner in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It was transferred to the China Academy of Space Technology, which will hand over the equipment aboard the capsule to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for analysis.   More
(Source: Shanghai Daily - Apr 19)

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