SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW WHAT THE HISTORIC GEOMAGNETIC STORM LOOKED LIKE FROM SPACE - Millions of Americans looked to the night sky and snapped magical photos and videos of the northern lights this weekend during the momentous geomagnetic storm. But cameras were also trained on the storm from space, capturing phantasmal monochromatic shots from the sun's electromagnetic radiation.... More (Source: CBS News - May 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 50TH FALCON 9 ROCKET OF 2024 ON STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX continues to expand its Starlink constellation that offer Direct to Cell capability through its Falcon 9 launch on Tuesday. There were 13 Direct to Cell-capable Starlink satellites among the 20 that launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 15)
TINY SATELLITES CAN PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION ABOUT SPACE - CubeSats are satellites constructed of cubic units, or U, a bit smaller than a square tissue box, or about 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on each side. (A 2U CubeSat, for instance, is about the size of a rectangular tissue box.) Initially developed two decades ago as an inexpensive platform for stu... More (Source: Phys.org - May 14)
SPACEX STARLINK SATELLITES DOING JUST FINE AFTER WEEKEND SOLAR STORM, COMPANY SAYS - SpaceX's Starlink fleet survived solar storms over the weekend. Starlink broadband satellites, which number nearly 6,000 in orbit, all came through after intense solar activity sparked auroras and other signs of space weather across the world, including unusually far into the southern United Stat... More (Source: Space.com - May 14)
NASA TO LAUNCH WEATHER OBSERVING SATELLITE IN JUNE - Next month, NASA will launch NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite to help improve weather observing and environmental monitoring capabilities on Earth, as well as advance space weather observations. NASA said that the GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental S... More (Source: RTTNews - May 14)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched 23 more of its Starlink satellites on Sunday (May 12), adding to its huge and ever-growing broadband megaconstellation. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT on May 13). The Fal... More (Source: Space.com - May 13)
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE INTO SPACE - China on Sunday launched a Long March-4C rocket, placing a satellite in space. The rocket blasted off at 7:43 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent the satellite Shiyan-23 into preset orbit. The satellite will mainly be used for space environm... More (Source: - May 13)
NASA POWER OUTAGE TEMPORARILY HALTS CONTACT WITH SPACE STATION - A NASA power outage disrupted communication between Mission Control and the International Space Station on Tuesday. Mission Control couldn’t send commands to the station and talk with the seven astronauts in orbit. The power outage hit as upgrade work was underway in the building at Houston’s... More (Source: MSN - May 13)
MUSK'S STARLINK SATELLITES DISRUPTED BY MAJOR SOLAR STORM - Starlink, the satellite arm of Elon Musk's SpaceX, warned on Saturday of a "degraded service" as the Earth is battered by the biggest geomagnetic storm due to solar activity in two decades. Starlink owns around 60% of the roughly 7,500 satellites orbiting Earth and is a dominant player in satellite... More (Source: Reuters - May 12)
SPACEX FLIES 13 MORE DIRECT TO CELL STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG SFB - After a 24 hour mission delay, SpaceX was able to launch the Starlink 8-2 mission from the company’s West Coast launch pad. The launch followed a successful launch from Florida’s Space Coast earlier Wednesday. In total, there were 20 Starlink satellites onboard the launch from Space Launch Co... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 10)
CHINA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT BROADBAND SATELLITES - China launched the first satellites for a medium Earth orbit broadband constellation late Wednesday. A Long March 3B lifted off at 9:43 p.m. Eastern May 8 (0143 UTC May 9) from the inland Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CAS... More (Source: SpaceNews - May 10)
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT: HOW BAD ARE SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS FOR ASTRONOMY? - Over the past few years, our planet has become increasingly encircled by Starlink, OneWeb and other "megaconstellation" satellites. Yes, the emergence of those megaconstellations offers great benefits for humanity. But in a wait-a-minute pause, there are also substantial costs, including a growin... More (Source: Space.com - May 10)
SPACEX BREAKS SPACE SHUTTLE PAD RECORD WITH FALCON 9 STARLINK MISSION - With a Wednesday afternoon launch, SpaceX’s Falcon family of rockets exceeded the total number of Space Shuttle missions from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The combination of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches passed the total number of shuttle flights seen a... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 8)
ATLAS 5 VALVE REPAIR WILL DELAY STARLINER’S FIRST CREWED MISSION TO MAY 17 AT THE EARLIEST - Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is going to have a wait a bit longer before its first astronaut mission can take place. Following the decision to scrub the Crew Flight Test mission about two hours prior to liftoff, teams with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Boeing and NASA concluded that more work was... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 8)
STARLINER LAUNCH SCRUBBED BY TROUBLE WITH A VALVE IN THE ATLAS 5’S CENTAUR UPPER STAGE - In a blog post early Tuesday, NASA said launch of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut ferry ship will be delayed until at least Friday “to complete data analysis on a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank of the Atlas 54 rocket‘s Centaur upper stage and determine whether it is necessary... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 7)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites today (May 6), the company's 46th orbital mission of the year already. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 2:14 p.m. EDT (1814 GMT), carrying 23 Starlink craft toward low Earth or... More (Source: Space.com - May 7)
EARTHCARE SATELLITE SET FOR LAUNCH - Recently, ESA's EarthCARE satellite was removed from its transport container at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, beginning an intensive period of preparation for its upcoming launch. The team conducted detailed inspections and testing to ensure the satellite was in optimal condition for its ... More (Source: Space Daily - May 6)
NORTH KOREA APPEARS TO TEST ROCKET ENGINE AMID PREPARATION FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH - North Korea appears to have tested a rocket engine in recent weeks at the country’s main space launch complex, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, as Pyongyang continues to prepare its first satellite launch of the year. Planet Labs satellite imagery shows what appears to be veg... More (Source: NK News - May 4)
THE BOEING STARLINER LAUNCHES SOON, WITH A CREW, AND ITS SUCCESS WOULD BE A BIG DEAL - If all goes well late on May 6, 2024, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will blast off into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Launching from the Kennedy Space Center, this last crucial test for Starliner will test out the new spacecraft and take the pair to the International Sp... More (Source: Astronomy Magazine - May 4)
