TO CALIBRATE TELESCOPES ON EARTH, NASA'S LAUNCHING AN 'ARTIFICIAL STAR' TO ORBIT - Come 2029, skywatchers can glimpse at least one "star" in the sky made by humans. Earlier this week, NASA announced plans to place a small satellite in Earth orbit at a little over 22,000 miles (35,400 kilometers) above our planet's surface — far enough for the satellite to mimic a real star to... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 15)
ONE SATELLITE CRASH COULD UPEND MODERN LIFE - Earlier this year, two satellites from two adversarial countries nearly collided while orbiting Earth at thousands of miles an hour. The first, an American spacecraft on a NASA mission to study the planet’s upper atmosphere, wasn’t built to maneuver in orbit. The second, a Russian surveillance s... More (Source: The Atlantic - Jun 15)
UNPRECEDENTED RESOLUTION: MAXAR SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHS ISS AND STARLINER - Maxar is primarily known for its high-quality satellite images of the earth’s surface. They are used for monitoring, disaster and warfare assessment. Maxar satellites regularly photograph the front line, the results of strikes on facilities in the Russian rear and traces of war crimes in the occup... More (Source: Universe Space Tech - Jun 14)
BOEING STARLINER STUCK ON SPACE STATION AS MORE LEAKS DISCOVERED - After years of delays and technical problems, Boeing's Starliner finally made it to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board last week. But when exactly it'll be able to undock and deliver its crew of two back to the surface remains to be seen.... More (Source: Yahoo - Jun 14)
SPACEX LAUNCHING 22 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA JUNE 13 - SpaceX is scheduled to launch 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit from Florida's Space Coast on Thursday (June 13). The Starlink satellites will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a two-hour window that opens at 4:46 p.m. EDT (2046 GMT... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 13)
NASA'S GATEWAY SPACE STATION HALO MODULE MOVES CLOSER TO LAUNCH - NASA's Gateway space station is moving closer to a launch after welding recently was completed on a module in Turin, Italy, the agency said Monday. The Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, is one of four modules in which astronauts will live, conduct science and prepare for lunar surface mi... More (Source: UPI - Jun 12)
LAUNCH ROUNDUP: FALCON 9’S BUSY LAUNCH CADENCE CONTINUES - Following an extremely eventful week in Spaceflight, this coming week returns to “business as usual.” Two SpaceX Starlink missions, one each from Vandenberg and Florida, and a Falcon 9 launching a customer satellite make up the launches for the week. SpaceX is preparing Launch Complex 39A at ... More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 11)
THIS IS WHERE SATELLITES GO TO DIE - The sky is full of satellites, and they're central to modern life. The internet, GPS, and telecommunications all rely on the massive hunks of metal that are constantly orbiting the earth at thousands of miles per hour. More are being added every year, with Elon Musk's Starlink alone claiming to have... More (Source: SlashGear - Jun 10)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 FLIGHT FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE - SpaceX kicked off the weekend with the launch of another batch of its Starlink satellites. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-8, added 20 more satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation, including 13 that have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened 5:58 a.... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 FLIGHT FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX followed up its fourth test flight of its massive Starship rocket in southern Texas with a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Friday night flight marked the 344th Falcon 9 to launch, a little more than 14 years after its launch debut on June 4, 2010. The Starlink ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)
STARLINER CREW WELCOMED ABOARD SPACE STATION - Working around multiple helium leaks and thruster problems, the crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft wrapped up a challenging rendezvous and a delayed-but-successful docking with the International Space Station Thursday in a major milestone for the new ship’s first piloted test flight. With ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 8)
THRUSTER GLITCHES AND HELIUM LEAKS CAN'T STOP BOEING'S STARLINER ASTRONAUT TEST FLIGHT — BUT WHY ARE THEY HAPPENING? - When NASA astronauts tried to dock Boeing's first crewed Starliner spacecraft at the International Space Station Thursday (June 6), they had to wait. Five aft thrusters on the Starliner service module were out. And that was after flight controllers found workarounds for two new helium leaks on t... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 7)
SPACEX ACCOMPLISHES FIRST SOFT SPLASHDOWN OF STARSHIP, SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER ON FLIGHT 4 MISSION - For a fourth time in a little more than a year, SpaceX launched a test mission of its massive Starship rocket from its development facility in southern Texas called Starbase. The launch, dubbed Flight 4, push the launch vehicle towards its goal of being a mostly reusable rocket. Similarly to the ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 7)
TANAGER-1 IS READY FOR LAUNCH: PLANET’S FIRST HYPERSPECTRAL SATELLITE - We are proud to announce today that our first hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1—made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition and its philanthropic partners—is ready for launch. The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 3rd in preparation for liftoff as early as July on board... More (Source: Planet Labs - Jun 7)
NASA LAUNCHES SECOND SMALL CLIMATE SATELLITE TO STUDY EARTH’S POLES - Data from the pair of CubeSats will offer new insights into how much heat the Arctic and Antarctica radiate into space and how this influences global climate. The second of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) two satellites is communicating with ground controlle... More (Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - Jun 6)
BOEING'S STARLINER LAUNCHES ASTRONAUTS FOR 1ST TIME IN HISTORIC LIFTOFF - Boeing's Starliner's first-ever astronaut mission is underway. Starliner, Boeing's new astronaut taxi for NASA, soared into space today (June 5) from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, notching a huge milestone after nearly two decades of commercial crew planning. Veteran... More (Source: Space.com - Jun 5)
MAINE COMPANY PLANS TO LAUNCH SMALL SATELLITES STARTING IN 2025 - Representatives for a Maine company that plans to send small satellites into space from the Northeast's most rural state said they will start launches next year. Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace hopes to turn Maine into a hub for the launching of commercial nanosatellites and has been making pr... More (Source: Phys.org - Jun 5)
DESPITE GYRO FAILURE, NASA SAYS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE STILL UP TO WORLD-CLASS SCIENCE - Trouble with one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s three remaining gyroscopes, critical for aiming and locking onto targets, has prompted mission managers to switch to a backup control mode that will limit some observations but keep the iconic observatory running well into the 2030s, officials said ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 5)
ULA’S UPDATE AFTER YESTERDAY’S SCRUB OF BOEING STARLINER AND NASA ASTRONAUTS MISSION TO ISS - NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are forgoing a Crew Flight Test launch attempt Sunday, June 2, to give the team additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-41 in Florida. Saturday’s launch was to carry ... More (Source: SatNews - Jun 4)
