SENATE BILL WOULD CREATE CENTER TO STUDY SATELLITE INTERFERENCE WITH ASTRONOMY - Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would create a new center devoted to protecting astronomy from interference caused by satellite constellations even as existing efforts involving organizations and companies make progress. The Dark and Quiet Skies Act of 2024, introduced Aug. 1 by Sens. J... More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 15)
ISRO'S NEXT LAUNCH, AN EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE RIDE ON A "SMALL" ROCKET - To celebrate India's Independence Day, a small rocket with big ambitions is set to fly. ISRO's baby rocket, called the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), will carry an experimental earth imaging satellite named EOS-8 and SR-0 Demo Sat made by a Chennai-based start-up with a cheeky name - Space R... More (Source: NDTV - Aug 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES AFTER YESTERDAY’S LAST SECOND ABORT - Success after an abort yesterday as the SpaceX launch countdown stopped at the 46-second mark when an official said, “launch abort is running,” after the clock stopped ending the webcast. Then on Monday, August 12 at 6:37 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from ... More (Source: SatNews - Aug 14)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES FOR RECORD-TYING 22ND TIME, SENDING ARCTIC BROADBAND SATELLITES TO ORBIT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched for a record-tying 22nd time on Sunday night (Aug. 11), sending aloft two satellites that will provide broadband coverage in the Arctic region. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the two spacecraft of the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) lifted off from Californ... More (Source: Space.com - Aug 13)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ASTRONAUTS GET STUCK IN SPACE - We've all been there…stuck for hours on a broken-down train, abandoned in an airport because of a software update or – my most memorable – stranded in the Falkland Islands after an aircraft engine on an ageing air force transport plane caught fire. At least there were penguins to look at. ... More (Source: BBC - Aug 13)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH PRIVATELY-FINANCED INTERNATIONAL CREW OF FOUR AROUND EARTH’S POLES - A blockchain entrepreneur, a cinematographer, a polar adventurer and a robotics researcher plan to fly around Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule by end of year, becoming the first humans to observe the ice caps and extreme polar environments from orbit, SpaceX announced Monday. T... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 13)
CHINESE ASTRONAUTS CELEBRATE OLYMPICS ON TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China's current astronaut crew got into the Olympic spirit in orbit. Shenzhou 18 crewmembers Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu have been aboard the country's Tiangong space station since late April and have proven their physical prowess with job-related work such as a national-record spacewalk. ... More (Source: Space.com - Aug 13)
SPACEX LAUNCHED TWIN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES FOR SPACE NORWAY - SpaceX completed its second launch of the weekend with a mission for Space Norway. The company launched its Falcon 9 rocket for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM). The satellites, called ASBM-1 and ASBM-2, are designed to provide both military satellite communications as well as commer... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 12)
SPACEX ABORTS STARLINK SATELLITE LAUNCH AT JUST 46 SECONDS AND RESCHEDULES - The SpaceX launch countdown stopped at the 46-second mark when an official said, “launch abort is running,” after the clock stopped ending the webcast. SpaceX is now targeting Monday, August 12 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A)... More (Source: SatNews - Aug 12)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES CAPELLA SPACE SAR SATELLITE - Rocket Lab launched a Capella Space radar imaging satellite Aug. 11 on a mission that illustrated the flexibility offered by, but also the challenges facing, small launch vehicles. The Electron lifted off from Pad B at Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:18 a.m. Eastern after a tw... More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 12)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX sent another group of Starlink satellites to space today (Aug. 10) as the company continues to assemble its giant internet constellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink spacecraft to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 8:50 a... More (Source: Space.com - Aug 12)
‘WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN:’ JUNK SATELLITES ARE A LOOMING HAZARD - Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its competitors are making reliable, and decently-fast satellite internet services a reality thanks to a growing armada of shimmering satellites orbiting overhead. Through its constellation of over 6,000, 500-pound satellites, SpaceX’s Starlink internet service already rep... More (Source: Popular Science - Aug 10)
ROCKET LAB’S READY NOW TO LAUNCH CAPELLA’S ACADIA-3 SAR SATELLITE EIGHT DAYS AFTER PREVIOUS MISSION - Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB), a provider in launch services and space systems, announced it has scheduled the launch for its 52nd Electron mission which will deploy a single satellite for American space tech company Capella Space (“Capella”). The mission is scheduled to launch during a... More (Source: SatNews - Aug 10)
NASA SENDS FINAL COMMAND TO ITS NEOWISE SPACECRAFT, ENDING MORE THAN A DECADE OF ASTEROID OBSERVATIONS - A spacecraft that helped bolster planetary defense is now at the end of its operational mission. On Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft into its final hibernation mode by shutting off... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 9)
CHINESE MEGACONSTELLATION LAUNCH CREATES FIELD OF SPACE DEBRIS - A Chinese launch to deploy a first batch of communications satellites has created more than 50 pieces of debris which could threaten spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The Long March 6A launched Aug. 6, from a specifically constructed launch pad at Taiyuan spaceport. The rocket’s upper stage, modif... More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 9)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH ARCTIC SATELLITE BROADBAND MISSION AUGUST 11-12 - After a delay from the original launch date of July 15th, 2024, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission August 11-12, consisting of two satellites owned by Space Norway. The Falcon 9 will launch the two Northrop Grumman-built satellites into a highly elliptical orbi... More (Source: SatNews - Aug 9)
ISS ASTRONAUTS ON EIGHT-DAY MISSION MAY BE STUCK UNTIL 2025, NASA SAYS - Two US astronauts who blasted into space for an eight-day mission in June may be stuck on the International Space Station until next year if their Boeing Starliner cannot be repaired for them to return home, Nasa has said. Nasa officials on Wednesday said astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni William... More (Source: The Guardian - Aug 9)
PRIVATE CYGNUS FREIGHTER ARRIVES AT THE ISS WITH 4 TONS OF SUPPLIES - Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus freighter reached the International Space Station (ISS) early Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), carrying about 4 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. The Cygnus, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday (Aug. 4), was captured by the station's robotic arm o... More (Source: Space.com - Aug 8)
HEAVIER SMALLSATS WEIGH DOWN MARKET FORECASTS - The number of smallsats forecasted to launch in the next decade is declining as some satellites get heavier. In a presentation at a side meeting during the Small Satellite Conference Aug. 7, Gabriel Deville, senior consultant at Novaspace, said his company was forecasting 14,500 smallsats would l... More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 8)
