WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WHILE THE GOVERNMENT IS SHUT DOWN? - Although the U.S. government is shut down, NASA's astronauts in space are still expected to show up for work every day. As the shutdown continues into its second month, many federal employees are furloughed. Some, however, keep working (mostly without pay at the moment), because they're considere... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 3)
SOON 100 POCKETQUBE SATELLITES WILL BE ON-ORBIT FOR THE POCKETQUBE COMMUNITY - Four PocketQubes will be deployed by PocketQube broker, Alba Orbital, in collaboration with SEOPS as part of the Transporter-15 rideshare mission with SpaceX. The PocketQube standard was first developed in 2009 at Morehead State University (MSU) and Kentucky Space to help universities and researc... More (Source: SatNews - Nov 3)
LVM3-M5 LAUNCH: ISRO SHOOTS OFF INDIA’S HEAVIEST COMMUNICATION SATELLITE ON ‘BAHUBALI’ - India's space ambitions received a significant boost with ISRO's launch of its heaviest satellite, the 4,410 kg GSAT-7R, aboard the LVM3-M5 rocket. This mission is crucial for enhancing the Indian Navy's communication capabilities and maritime domain awareness across the Indian Ocean Region. ... More (Source: The Economic Times - Nov 3)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 100TH STARLINK FLIGHT OF 2025 - SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Halloween afternoon marking its 100th Starlink mission of the year. This was also its 15th orbital launch during the month of October. The Starlink 11-23 mission added another 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into the low Earth o... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 3)
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MARKS 25 YEARS OF NONSTOP HUMAN PRESENCE IN ORBIT - It’s an unprecedented space streak: 25 years of people living off-planet without even a moment’s pause. The International Space Station marks a quarter-century of continuous occupancy this weekend, boasting a guest list of nearly 300 — mostly professional astronauts but also the occasional ... More (Source: Military.com - Nov 1)
CHINA LAUNCHES SHENZHOU 21 MISSION, CARRYING 3 TAIKONAUTS - AND 4 MICE - TO REPLACE SPACE STATION CREW - China launched its Shenzhou-21 spacecraft on Friday, carrying a new three-person crew to man the country's Tiangong space station on a mission focused on scientific research. The replacement crew includes China's youngest-ever taikonaut — as China's space program calls its astronauts — and, for ... More (Source: CBS News - Nov 1)
CHINA REVEALS CREW FOR SHENZHOU 21 MISSION TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION, INCLUDING NATION'S YOUNGEST ASTRONAUT - China has named the three astronauts set to fly to the Tiangong space station at a pre-launch press conference one day ahead of the Oct. 31 flight of the Shenzhou 21 mission. Astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang will be aboard the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft, currently scheduled to launch o... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 31)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MARKS 25 YEARS OF NONSTOP HUMAN PRESENCE IN ORBIT - It’s an unprecedented space streak: 25 years of people living off-planet without even a moment’s pause. The International Space Station marks a quarter-century of continuous occupancy this weekend, boasting a guest list of nearly 300 — mostly professional astronauts but also the occasional ... More (Source: PBS - Oct 31)
JAPAN'S 1ST HTV-X CARGO CRAFT ARRIVES AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Japan's new HTV-X cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station for the first time ever today (Oct. 28), delivering thousands of pounds of payloads and supplies to astronauts aboard. The robotic HTV-X was captured by the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm — operated by NASA astronaut... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 30)
AI CHALLENGE ADVANCES SATELLITE-BASED DISASTER MAPPING - Four teams from different countries have been recognised for their breakthrough work in using artificial intelligence to detect earthquake damage from space, marking the conclusion of a global competition organised by the European Space Agency in collaboration with the International Charter ‘Space... More (Source: European Space Agency - Oct 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 29 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX its penultimate Falcon 9 rocket launch of October, which flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station around lunchtime on Wednesday. The Starlink 10-37 mission carried 29 of the company’s Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 30)
SPACEX MARKS 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST STARLINK CUSTOMER WITH SUNDAY SATELLITE LAUNCH - SpaceX completed a Sunday morning Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, flying more of its Starlink broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. The mission coincided with the fifth anniversary of SpaceX acquiring its first paying customer to use the broadband internet serv... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)
SPACEX BREAKS ITS CALIFORNIA PAD TURNAROUND RECORD WITH SUNSET STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX continued its rapid pace of launches Monday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 11-21 mission added another 28 more of the V2 Mini iteration of the satellites into low Earth orbit. The flight broke the record for the fastest pad... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)
CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE - China on Sunday sent a new satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in its southwestern Sichuan province. The Gaofen-14 02 satellite was launched at 11:55 am (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.... More (Source: China Daily - Oct 27)
JAPAN LAUNCHES ADVANCED NEW CARGO SPACECRAFT TO ISS FOR 1ST TIME - Japan's new HTV-X cargo spacecraft launched on its first-ever mission to the International Space Station on Saturday (Oct. 25). The robotic HTV-X lifted off atop an H3 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 9 a.m local Japan time on Oct. 26). It is expected to... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 26)
IN ORBIT YOU HAVE TO SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP - If you watch sci-fi movies, you’d think that flying a spaceship is just like driving a slightly more complicated car (or a Winnebago in Spaceballs). And George Lucas gave us those galactic battles with pilots who look like they’re flying fighter jets on Earth. Well, bad news: Space is really,... More (Source: WIRED - Oct 25)
SPACEX EXPENDS FALCON 9 BOOSTER TO LAUNCH SPAINSAT NG 2 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage flew Thursday for the 21st and final time — a rare expendable mission for the company’s reusable rocket, which deployed a communications satellite for Spain. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, but was delayed 24 hours for reasons not disclos... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 24)
THE END OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The ISS has been in low orbit above the earth for almost 25 years. It’s played host to astronauts from around the world. But that’s about to come to an end. NASA is gearing up to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and it’s working with private companies to begin development of commercial space stat... More (Source: NPR - Oct 23)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES ON 550TH FALCON 9 MISSION - SpaceX launched its 550th Falcon 9 mission since the rocket’s debut in 2010. The launch from California added 28 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s Starlink constellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT / 1416 UTC)... More (Source: Spacelight Now - Oct 23)
