TIANZHOU 4 CARGO SPACECRAFT UNDOCKS FROM CHINA'S TIANGONG SPACE STATION - A cargo ship has undocked from China’s space station and will soon burn up in the atmosphere after completing its mission. The uncrewed Tianzhou 4 detached from the docking hub of the Tiangong space station on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT), China’s human spaceflight agency, C... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 12)
ATLAS 5 LAUNCHES WEATHER SATELLITE, REENTRY TECH DEMO MISSION - An Atlas 5 successfully launched a polar-orbiting weather satellite and a reentry technology demonstrator on the final flight of the vehicle from California. The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:49 a.m. Eas... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 11)
LATEST U.S. WEATHER SATELLITE, SET TO SCAN STORMS LIKE NICOLE, LAUNCHES - As Tropical Storm Nicole neared Florida on Wednesday, a satellite passed 512 miles overhead, scanning for data to help meteorologists understand what was happening beneath the clouds — and better predict what the storm would do next. On Thursday, on the other side of the United States, the satelli... More (Source: The Washington Post - Nov 11)
CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION AFTER SOLAR ARRAY TROUBLE - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, overcoming a deployment failure on one of its two power-generating solar arrays to deliver 4.1 tons of cargo and experiments to the complex. The Cygnus spacecraft, nicknamed the “S.S.” Sally Ride after... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 10)
WATCH CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION EARLY WEDNESDAY - The private Cygnus cargo craft is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) early Wednesday morning (Nov. 9), and you can watch the action live. Cygnus, a robotic freighter built by aerospace giant Northop Grumman, launched toward the ISS on Monday (Nov. 7) from Virginia. If a... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 9)
TAIWAN TO LAUNCH GNSS-R WEATHER SATELLITE FOR TYPHOON PREDICTION - Taiwan will launch its first indigenously developed meteorological satellite in March 2023, reports Taiwan News. The Triton satellite was designed and made by the National Space Organization (NSPO) over eight years. The satellite has completed testing and is undergoing review. The 250-kg Trito... More (Source: GPS World - Nov 8)
SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS ARE AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT FOR ASTRONOMY - Astronomer Rachel Street remembers feeling frightened after a recent planning meeting for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The new flagship telescope, under construction in Chile, will photograph the entire sky every three nights with enough observing power to see a golf ball at the distance of the mo... More (Source: Scientific American - Nov 8)
NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S ‘S.S. SALLY RIDE’ CARGO SHIP LAUNCHES ON FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - Using its second-to-last Antares rocket with Russian engines before a redesign to rely on all-U.S. propulsion, Northrop Grumman sent a Cygnus supply ship into orbit from Virginia on Monday to deliver spacewalk equipment, experiments, and fresh treats for the crew on the International Space Station. ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 7)
FIRE ALARM ON EARTH DELAYS NORTHROP GRUMMAN CARGO LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying more than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station will have to wait at least one more day to launch after a fire alarm at its mission control center thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6). The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a pla... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 7)
CHINA COMPLETES T-SHAPED TIANGONG SPACE STATION WITH NEW MENGTIAN MODULE MOVE - The basic construction of China's space station is complete, following a maneuver to shift the recently arrived Mengtian module to its permanent docking port. China launched Mengtian, the third and final module for its Tiangong space station, on Oct. 31. Mengtian, which means "dreaming of the hea... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 7)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES SWEDISH SATELLITE BUT FAILS TO CATCH BOOSTER WITH HELICOPTER - Rocket Lab launched a Swedish research satellite to orbit today (Nov. 4) but didn't manage to snag the returning booster with a helicopter. A Rocket Lab Electron launcher lifted off today at 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727 GMT; 6:27 a.m. on Nov. 5 local New Zealand time), kicking off a mission the company ca... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 5)
CHINA’S MYSTERY SPACEPLANE RELEASES OBJECT INTO ORBIT - China’s secretive reusable spaceplane has released an object into orbit, according to tracking data from the U.S. Space Force. China carried out the second launch of its “reusable experimental spacecraft” from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert atop a Long March 2F rocket Aug. 4. The spacecraft ... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 5)
CHINESE ROCKET PLUMMETS TO EARTH, AND ONE COUNTRY HALTS ITS AIR TRAFFIC - A Chinese rocket booster made an out-of-control reentry into Earth's atmosphere over the water early Friday, the US military's Space Command confirmed. The booster is the first stage of a Long March 5B rocket that several days ago sent a large module to orbit to expand China's Tiangong space sta... More (Source: CNET - Nov 5)
KOSMOS-2558: RUSSIA'S KILLER SATELLITE THAT COULD TRIGGER ARTICLE 5 - Two blips of light in the night sky, whizzing around the globe every 90 minutes, could be where Russia opts to clash with Nato over the Ukraine war. The first blip you see, if you look up at the right place and time even with a naked eye, is an American spy satellite called USA-326, launched on 2... More (Source: EUobserver - Nov 4)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES POSSIBLE MISSILE-TRACKING SATELLITE AMID CONTINUING THREATS - The Russians sent a possible missile-detection satellite to space Wednesday (Nov. 2) as the country ramps up its rhetoric about attacking U.S. satellites over Ukraine. A Soyuz-2.1b medium-class rocket launched with the satellite, whose purpose is not officially disclosed, at 1:48 a.m. EDT (0648 G... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES AIRBUS-BUILT TV BROADCASTING SPACECRAFT FOR EUTELSAT - SpaceX launched the second in a series of three Falcon 9 rocket missions early Thursday for the European satellite operator Eutelsat, delivering to orbit a television broadcasting craft that also hosts an EU-funded payload to provide precise navigation data to airplanes. After a two-hour delay, t... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 4)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES TUNDRA MISSILE WARNING SATELLITE FROM PLESETSK - At 06:48 UTC on Nov. 2, Russia’s Soyuz-2.1b launched from Site 43/4 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying the sixth satellite of Russia’s next-generation early warning system. Upon reaching orbit, the spacecraft was designated as Kosmos-2563. The Tundra series of satellites, also known as Kupol or... More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 3)
SPIRE SELECTED TO DESIGN SATELLITE FOR DARPA EXPERIMENT IN VERY LOW ORBIT - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected Spire Global to design a small satellite for an experiment to study high-frequency radio signals in the upper layers of the atmosphere, the company announced Nov. 1. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Spire will design a cubesat to ... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 2)
SPACE FORCE FUNDS EXPERIMENT ON USE OF AI TO PREDICT SATELLITE FAILURES - RS21, a data science startup developing artificial intelligence tools for autonomous space operations, won a U.S. Space Force contract to research the use of AI to predict satellite failures in orbit. The company, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, announced Oct. 26 it won a two-year Small Busines... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 2)
