SOYUZ 2-1B LAUNCHES THIRD PERSONA-1 SPY SATELLITE - A Russian Soyuz 2-1B launch vehicle has successfully launched with the third and possibly final Persona-1 reconnaissance satellite – also known as Kvarts – into space on Tuesday. The launch was conducted at 16:44 GMT from launch pad 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia under the usual secrecy of a military launch. The first and only completely new class of Russian photoreconnaissance satellite to fly after 2000 has been in the Persona-1 series.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 24)

LAUNCH OF SENTINEL SATELLITE TO KEEP EYE ON EARTH SURFACE - The first optical imaging satellite in Europe's Copernicus environmental surveillance programme blasted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on Tuesday. The satellite was launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou and its journey into Earth orbit was set to take about 55 minutes. Sentinel-2 is a polar-orbiting, multispectral high-resolution imaging mission for land monitoring to provide imagery of vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas.    More
(Source: Telegraph.co.uk - Jun 24)

THREE SOLAR STORMS COMBINE AND CRASH INTO EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - CREATING SPECTACULAR BUT DANGEROUS DI - The sun has unleashed three separate solar storms that have combined to smash into Earth's atmosphere. It means astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been able to capture rare images of a red aurora on our planet. US astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted the stunning pictures today and described the view as 'spectacular'.    More
(Source: Daily Mail - Jun 24)

RUSSIA EYES KAZAKH COSMONAUT AS SPACE TOURIST - Russia on Monday proposed sending a Kazakh cosmonaut to the International Space Station in place of a space tourist in September after a Japanese candidate formally dropped out. Satoshi Takamatsu, a Japanese businessman, was gearing up to go to space after signing a contract to undergo training but said Monday that he was not ready for the launch expected in early September. "The Russian commission has proposed sending a national of Kazakhstan to the ISS," spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Igor Burenkov, told AFP.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Jun 23)

VEGA ROCKET READIED FOR LAUNCH OF SENTINEL-2A EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE - An Arianespace Vega launch vehicle is slated to send the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-2A Earth-observing satellite aloft at 9:52 p.m. EDT on June 22 (01:52 GMT on 23 June) from ESA’s spaceport located in Kourou, French Guiana. The preparations for the flight, which was previously scheduled to take place on June 12, are in full swing as the spacecraft having been fueled, mated with the launch adapter, and encapsulated in the rocket’s payload fairing. The upcoming mission, designated Flight VV05, will be the fifth launch of the lightweight Vega rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Jun 23)

SPACEX'S SPACE STATION RESUPPLY MISSION TO LAUNCH ON SUNDAY - Next Sunday, SpaceX's seventh International Space Station resupply mission will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:21 am. It will carry payload of 1,150-pound, which is a 5-foot diameter ring called a 'docking adapter', which is needed to connect with the orbiting research complex. The capsules, being developed, comprise an advanced version of the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship that will blast off on a Falcon 9 rocket, and Boeing's CST-100; the rockets will be assembled at Kennedy Space Center and United Launch Alliance Atlas V will launch them.   More
(Source: NY City News - Jun 22)

SPACEX NOW TARGETING JUNE 28 LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - SpaceX's next International Space Station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is now scheduled for 10:21 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, two days later than previously planned. The company is taking a bit more time to accommodate normal launch preparations, not working any problems with a Falcon 9 rocket or Dragon spacecraft, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported. The resupply mission is SpaceX's seventh of 15 under a NASA contract.   More
(Source: WKMG Orlando - Jun 20)

IT IS ABOUT TIME RUSSIA SHOULD END INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PROJECT - The 20th century was rich for events in the field of space exploration. First manned space flight of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's and US astronaut Neil Armstrong's landing on the Moon became one of he biggest achievements of mankind in conquering space. What can humans achieve in space exploration in the 21st century? Pravda.Ru conducted an interview on the subject with correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after Tsiolkovsky, Andrei Ionin.   More
(Source: Pravda - Jun 20)

INTERNATIONAL OCEAN RESEARCH OBSERVATORY FAILS IN ORBIT - An Argentine satellite hosting a NASA sensor designed to measure the saltiness of Earth’s oceans has ended its mission after four years in orbit, NASA said Wednesday. The Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-D, or SAC-D, spacecraft ended its mission June 8 when part of its power and attitude control system failed, according to NASA. The spacecraft shut down a year shy of its five-year design life, but scientists say its primary instrument — the NASA-built Aquarius ocean salinity and soil moisture sensor — achieved all its objectives and exceeded its three-year mission goal.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 20)

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