WATCH ISS CREW’S RETURN TO EARTH ON FRIDAY - On Friday (September 11, 2015) three crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are scheduled to leave the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth. NASA Television will provide complete coverage of their departure and landing. Watch here. Expedition 44 commander Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and visiting crew members Andres Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency will undock their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the space station at 5:29 p.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 8:51 p.m. (6:51 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, Kazakhstan time).   More
(Source: EarthSky - Sep 11)

ABS ALL-ELECTRIC SATELLITE ARRIVES EARLY AT OPERATING ORBIT - Satellite fleet operator ABS on Sept. 10 said its ABS-3A satellite, the world’s first all-electric commercial telecommunications spacecraft, has reached final geostationary position and begun operations six months after its launch. Bermuda-based ABS said the satellite’s entry into service occurred about one month ahead of schedule. The advantage of all-electric satellites is their low launch mass, allowing the purchase of less-expensive launch services or, in the case of ABS, enabling satellite operators to launch two satellites at a time depending on the rocket selected. The disadvantage is that they take months to reach geostationary position, rather than a couple of weeks for satellites with chemical propellant.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 11)

ARIANESPACE SOYUZ ST-B CONDUCTS ANOTHER GALILEO DUAL LAUNCH - An Arianespace Soyuz ST-B is lofting another pair of Galileo satellites from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday. The launch of the FM05 and FM06 satellites took place on schedule at 02:08 UTC, continuing the growth of Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellation. Following the launch of four satellites Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites, forming the operational nucleus of the full 30-satellite constellation – FM01 and FM02 were then launched as the first two “Full Operational Capability (FOC)” birds to head into orbit. Their launch didn’t go to plan as they ended up in an elongated orbit traveling up to 25,900 km above Earth and back down to 13,713 km.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 11)

TWO MORE GALILEO NAVIGATION SATELLITES PRIMED FOR FLIGHT - The next pair of spacecraft to join Europe’s Galileo navigation system are positioned for liftoff late Thursday aboard a Soyuz rocket. The photos below show the arrival of the satellites in French Guiana in late July from their factory at OHB System in Bremen, Germany, fueling of the craft by technicians in special hazmat suits, and attachment of the twin satellites on a dual-payload dispenser. The package was then lowered atop a Russian-made Fregat-MT upper stage and enclosed within the Soyuz rocket’s payload fairing. Workers next added decals to the nose cone with the mission logos, then transferred the composite structure to the Soyuz launch pad late Monday for mating with the rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 10)

SPACE STATION CROSSES SUN'S FACE IN STUNNING PHOTO FROM EARTH - An amazing new photo shows the International Space Station crossing the sun's face. The picture, a composite of five images taken Sunday (Sept. 6) from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia by NASA photographer Bill Ingalls, captures a "transit" of the International Space Station (ISS) across the solar disk. Such transits don't last very long, because the space station zooms around Earth at more than 17,000 mph (27,000 km/h) — the $100 billion complex completes one lap around our planet once every 90 minutes or so.    More
(Source: NBC News - Sep 9)

SAUDI ARABIA TO LAUNCH A SMALL SATELLITE EVERY TWO YEARS - Saudi Arabia will launch a small satellite into orbit every two or three years under a 12-year space program devised by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), it was announced here on Sunday. Prince Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed, president of KACST, made the announcement during a speech at a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the launch of the spaceship Discovery by NASA. Prince Turki said KACST is scheduled to implement its satellite program starting from 2019 through 2020...   More
(Source: Al-Arabiya - Sep 8)

ISRO POSITIONS MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE GSAT-6 IN FINAL ORBIT - GSAT-6, the country's latest communication satellite has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot, Indian Space Research Organization said today. "GSAT-6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot of 83 Deg E and collocated with INSAT 4A, GSAT 12, GSAT 10 and IRNSS1C today morning, after carrying out four drift arresting maneuvers," ISRO said. ISRO had successfully launched GSAT-6, having an indigenous cryogenic engine, on-board GSLV-D6 rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota on August 27. After the launch ISRO had performed successive orbit raising operation of the satellite and had also deployed the unfurlable antenna (UFA) successfully.    More
(Source: NDTV - Sep 7)

SCOTT KELLY TAKES OVER AS SPACE STATION COMMANDER - In a brief ceremony Saturday, veteran cosmonaut Gennadi Padalka, the most experienced spaceman on or off the planet, turned over command of the International Space Station to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who along with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is midway through a nearly yearlong stay in orbit. Padalka served as commander of the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft that carried Kelly and Kornienko into orbit last March 27 and he plans to return to Earth aboard the same ferry ship Sept. 11 to close out his fifth space mission.   More
(Source: CBS News - Sep 7)

THREE HAM RADIO LAUNCHES PLANNED BY BEIJING - Beijing is thought to be planning three separate launches of satellites carrying amateur radio payloads in the next few weeks. The launches were highlighted on the Social Media site Weibo and have been discussed on a space flight forum. On September 19, 2015 the new CZ-6 rocket is expected to launch from Taiyuan carrying nine satellites with amateur radio payloads. Six XW-2 satellites will carry 435/145 MHz SSB/CW transponders.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Sep 7)

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