NOAA-21 IS NOW THE PRIMARY SATELLITE IN THE JPSS FLEET - NOAA-21 is now operating as the primary satellite in NOAA’s advanced Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), the agency announced today. The satellite launched in November 2022 as JPSS-2, and was renamed NOAA-21 when it reached orbit. NOAA-21 now gives NOAA three spacecraft operating the most sophisticated technology the agency has ever flown in a polar orbit, capturing precise observations of the world’s atmosphere, land and waters.    More
(Source: noaa/nesdis - Mar 13)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FOURTH SATELLITE FOR JAPANESE EARTH-IMAGING COMPANY, SYNSPECTIVE - Rocket Lab launches its third Electron mission of the year and its fourth for Japanese Earth-imaging company, Synspective. The mission, dubbed “Owl Night Long,” lifted off on March 13 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1 in Mahia, New Zealand, at 4:03 a.m. NZDT (11:03 a.m. EDT, 1503 UTC). This was the 45th Electron rocket to launch to date.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 12)

SPACEX'S CREW-7 CAPSULE RETURNS 4 ASTRONAUTS TO EARTH WITH PREDAWN SPLASHDOWN - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-7 mission returned to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), with their homecoming broadcast live. Crew-7's Dragon capsule, Endurance, splashed down at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 UTC) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The recovery crew arrived at the capsule around three minutes later, with thermal cameras tracking the recovery operations.    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 12)

CREW-7 BEGINS JOURNEY HOME FOLLOWING SIX-MONTH STAY AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A journey of more than half a year orbiting around the world is coming to an end for the four-member team of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission. The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 UTC) after 197 days. Commander and NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and her crew, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov bid farewell to the rest of Expedition 70 during a ceremony on Sunday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 12)

SPACEX COMPLETES DOUBLE LAUNCH DAY WITH ITS SECOND STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX completed a double launch day on Sunday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Starlink 7-17 mission will add another 23 satellites to the growing low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) occurred at 9:09 p.m. PDT (12:09 a.m. EDT, 0409 UTC). It followed the successful launch of the Starlink 6-43 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 11)

NASA, BOEING DELAY STARLINER CAPSULE'S 1ST ASTRONAUT LAUNCH TO EARLY MAY - The long-delayed first crewed mission of Boeing's new Starliner capsule has been pushed back again. That mission to the International Space Station (ISS), called Crew Flight Test (CFT), had been tentatively scheduled to launch in mid-April. But that's no longer the plan, NASA and Boeing announced on Friday (March 8). CFT is "currently scheduled to launch [in] early May due to space station scheduling," agency officials wrote in an update on Friday afternoon.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 10)

WATCH ANDREAS RETURN TO EARTH - After more than six months on the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen and the rest of Crew-7 will undock and make their way down to Earth on 11 March 2024 at 13:15 GMT/14:15 CET, splashing down off the coast the Florida on 12 March, at 09:35 GMT / 10:35 CET. Watch the undocking and splashdown on ESA WebTV.    More
(Source: European Space Agency - Mar 10)

NANOAVIONICS SATELLITES EXPAND 2 CONSTELLATIONS WITH THE SPACEX TRANSPORTER-10 MISSION LAUNCH - OQ Technology’s Tiger-7 and Tiger-8 nanosatellites will expand the world’s first and largest 5G Narrowband-IoT constellation in LEO to ten satellites. The two 6U nanosatellites constitute the fifth and sixth satellite that NanoAvionics has manufactured for OQ Technology. All of OQ Technology’s constellation satellites can connect directly to off-the-shelf IoT devices and machines and provide tracking and monitoring information.   More
(Source: SatNews - Mar 9)

5,800 POUNDS OF BATTERIES TOSSED OFF THE ISS IN 2021 WILL FALL TO EARTH TODAY - A nearly 3-ton leftover tossed overboard from the International Space Station is nearing its plunge toward Earth. The multi-ton Exposed Pallet 9 (EP9) was jettisoned from the space station back in March 2021. At the time, it was reported to be the most massive object ever tossed overboard from the International Space Station. Disposing of used or unnecessary equipment in such a way is common practice aboard the space station, as the objects typically burn up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 9)

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