DEAD, 5,000-POUND SATELLITE IS FALLING TO EARTH TODAY. WILL ANY DEBRIS SURVIVE THE FIERY REENTRY? - A European Space Agency spacecraft is making an uncontrolled nosedive into Earth's atmosphere – with elements of the 2.3-ton spent satellite likely to survive the plunge into purgatory. The exact time and place above Earth that the radar-scanning ESA European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) augers in is unknown, but a new prediction of the spacecraft's demise has been issued.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 22)

SPACEX LAUNCHES INDONESIAN SATELLITE ON A FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - Indonesia aims to increase broadband internet access across its country through the launch of its latest communications satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Telkomsat HTS 113BT satellite, also referred to as Merah Putih 2, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:11 p.m. EST (2011 UTC). Despite some windy conditions, the Falcon 9 rocket was able to leap off the pad at the start of its two-hour launch window.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 21)

BIG, DOOMED SATELLITE SEEN FROM SPACE AS IT TUMBLES TOWARDS A FIERY REENTRY ON FEB. 21 - Photographs taken in space show a big dead satellite as it tumbled towards a fiery end in Earth's atmosphere. Australian commercial imaging company HEO Robotics was able to capture images of the European Space Agency's (ESA) ERS-2 Earth observation satellite on Feb. 14, 2024 as the satellite made an ungraceful fall towards our planet. ERS-2, or European Remote Sensing 2, launched in 1995 and spent 16 years observing our planet from space until its mission ended in 2011. Over a span of two months that year, ESA performed dozens of deorbiting maneuvers to begin bringing ERS-2 down for a safe demise in Earth's atmosphere. That end is finally due to come this week.   More
(Source: Yahoo News - Feb 20)

AMERICA'S NEXT SPACE STATION WILL BE TWICE AS BIG THANKS TO SPACEX - The International Space Station is a technological marvel. Beginning with the Zarya power and propulsion module launched in 1998, through the installation of its latest solar array last year, the ISS took more than a quarter-century, 42 space launches, and $150 billion to build. 108.5 meters end-to-end, the ISS boasts 1,0005 cubic meters of pressurized volume on its inside, of which roughly 39% (388 cubic meters) are habitable.   More
(Source: Yahoo Finance - Feb 20)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES ADRAS-J SPACE JUNK INSPECTION SATELLITE FOR ASTROSCALE - Rocket Lab launched an ambitious space-junk inspection satellite for the Japanese company Astroscale Sunday morning (Feb. 18), Astroscale's ADRAS-J satellite lifted atop an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site today at 9:52 a.m. EST (1452 GMT; 3:52 a.m. local New Zealand time on Feb. 19). The satellite is designed to inspect a large piece of space junk: a defunct Japanese H-2A rocket stage in low Earth orbit.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 19)

RESUPPLY SHIP DOCKS TO STATION COMPLETING SPACE DELIVERY - An uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 87 spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station’s aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:06 a.m. EST, as the orbiting laboratory was 260 miles over the south Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft launched on a Soyuz rocket at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress is delivering almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station for the Expedition 70 crew.   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 19)

RUSSIA SENDS RESUPPLY MISSION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia launched an automated cargo supply spaceship to the International Space Station, with three tons of food and other items. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket launched the Progress MS-26 carrier ship into orbit early Thursday morning local time, Russia's state-run news agency TASS reported. The Russia resupply spaceship is also delivering nearly 1,300 pounds of refueling propellant, 110 pounds of potable water and nearly 90 pounds of compressed nitrogen in cylinders.   More
(Source: Yahoo News - Feb 19)

IRIDIUM ADDS FIVE YEARS TO CONSTELLATION LIFETIME ESTIMATE - Iridium Communications expects to get another five years out of its satellites, pushing out any need to complete a replenishment of the L-band connectivity constellation to at least 2035. The 80 satellites in the operator’s second-generation Iridium Next low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, launched from 2017-2019 apart from five spares lofted last year, came with a 12.5-year design life from their prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space. Speaking during Iridium’s Feb. 15 quarterly earnings call, CEO Matt Desch said a recent engineering assessment “prompted us to update the constellation’s estimated life, which we now believe will perform well to at least 2035.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 16)

WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS US HAS INTELLIGENCE ON RUSSIAN ANTI-SATELLITE CAPABILITY - The White House on Thursday confirmed that the national security threat flagged by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee the previous day is related to “an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing,” but sought to soothe concerns about the danger it presents to the United States. “This is not an active capability that’s been deployed,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. “And though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling there was no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”    More
(Source: CNN - Feb 16)

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