PRIVATE CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ARRIVES AT THE ISS CARRYING 8,200 POUNDS OF SUPPLIES - Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early Thursday morning (Feb. 1), with the rendezvous streamed live. The Cygnus launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday (Jan. 30), kicking off a 40-hour orbital chase. That chase came to an end at 4:55 a.m. EST (0955 GMT) on Thursday, when NASA astronaut Laurel O'Hara grabbed Cygnus using the International Space Station's (ISS) Canadarm2 robotic arm to grip Cygnus. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 2)
SIERRA SPACE UNVEILS FULLY INTEGRATED DREAM CHASER SPACEPLANE AMID TESTING CAMPAIGN - An orbital-class spaceplane is one step closer to returning to the International Space Station. As part of an on-going test campaign, Sierra Space mated its Dream Chaser spaceplane to its Shooting Star module for the first time at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. The spaceplane will be the third and final cargo spacecraft contracted by NASA to shuttle supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contact. In 2016, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space and SpaceX were awarded several flights each under the agreement that had a maximum value of $14 billion. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 2)
SIDUS SPACE’S 3D HYBRID SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH - The Sidus team executed final steps in launch processing of LizzieSatTM, including mating the satellite to the separation system and the launch vehicle adapter, which allows for mounting to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. LizzieSatTM has been turned over to SpaceX and is ready for launch on the Transporter-10 mission which is targeted for no earlier than March of 2024. More (Source: SatNews - Feb 2)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FIRST RECOVERY ELECTRON MISSION OF 2024 - Rocket Lab was back in action on Wednesday, kicking off its launch year with a recovery Electron mission from New Zealand. This was its second return to flight mission following a mishap late last year. Liftoff from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand occurred at 7:34 p.m. NZDT (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 UTC). Poor weather scuttled launch opportunities originally set for mid-January. On board the Electron rocket for the “Four of a Kind” mission were four Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites from Spire Global and NorthStar Earth & Space. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 1)
SPACEX’S STARSHIP ROCKET TO LAUNCH THE STARLAB COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION - Starlab, the future commercial space station, will launch on a SpaceX Starship rocket under a new launch agreement announced Wednesday. Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus, announced SpaceX will launch the space station to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) in a single mission. Wednesday’s announcement did not give a specific timeframe, but said that Starlab will launch before the International Space Station (ISS) is decommissioned. NASA plans to fully utilize the space station through 2030, and issued a request for proposals to deorbit the ISS in September 2023. More (Source: Via Satellite - Feb 1)
LOCKHEED MARTIN’S MISPLACED SATELLITE TO FALL BACK TO EARTH NEXT MONTH - A Lockheed Martin satellite that was placed in the wrong orbit Dec. 22 is expected to de-orbit in February. Despite a much shortened mission, the company said it successfully accomplished many of the objectives of the technology demonstration.. The 300-pound payload — a newly designed electronically steerable antenna flying on a Terran Orbital Nebula bus — went to the wrong orbit following an upper stage problem with the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket placed that launched the mission Dec. 22. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES NORTHROP GRUMMAN CYGNUS SPACECRAFT ON ITS WAY TO THE SPACE STATION - SpaceX completed its second mission bound for the International Space Station this month. But unlike all previous missions targeting the orbiting outpost, this flight didn’t feature a Dragon spacecraft. At 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 UTC) SpaceX launched a Cygnus spacecraft on behalf of Northrop Grumman as part of NG’s 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract mission for NASA using its Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) against a clear blue sky as a backdrop. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)
U.S. SPACE FORCE WARY OF CHINA’S EXPANDING SPY SATELLITE FLEET - Concerns are rippling across the U.S. Space Force as China ramps up its constellation of reconnaissance satellites. The latest launches, including optical and radar surveillance spacecraft, have U.S. officials dismissing China’s claims that these satellites serve mostly civilian and commercial purposes. Speaking Jan. 30 at the Space Mobility Conference, Chief Master Sgt. Ron Lerch, of the Space Systems Command’s intelligence directorate, said China’s rapidly advancing military space-based reconnaissance capabilities are worrisome. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jan 31)
WATCH SPACEX LAUNCH PRIVATE CARGO SPACECRAFT TO THE ISS ON JAN. 30 - SpaceX will launch a private cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station this week, and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch Northrop Grumman's latest robotic Cygnus freighter Tuesday (Jan. 30) at 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. More (Source: Space.com - Jan 30)
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