SOYUZ LANDS SAFELY IN KAZAKHSTAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING MISSION; RUBIO: “IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME” - NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and two Russian cosmonauts undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth early Wednesday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out an unexpected yearlong stay in space, the longest single flight in U.S. space history. With Soyuz MS-69/2... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 29)
EUTELSAT AND ONEWEB COMBINE TO CREATE EUROPEAN SATELLITE GIANT AS MUSK’S STARLINK PRESSURES SECTOR - OneWeb, the British satellite giant, completed its combination with French rival Eutelsat Thursday, setting the stage for a European challenger to Elon Musk’s space internet venture Starlink. The two companies said in a joint statement that they had completed their all-share combination, which ... More (Source: CNBC - Sep 29)
CHINA ADDS YET ANOTHER YAOGAN SPY SATELLITE TO ITS ORBITAL FLEET - China has launched another new Yaogan reconnaissance satellite. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 4:15 p.m. EDT on Sept. 26 (2015 GMT; 4:15 a.m. Beijing Time on Sept. 27). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) a... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 29)
IRAN CLAIMS IT LAUNCHED NEW IMAGING SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - Iran claimed on Wednesday it successfully launched an imaging satellite into space, which could further ratchet up tensions with Western nations that fear its space technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons. Iran's Communication Minister Isa Zarepour said the Noor-3 satellite had been p... More (Source: CBS News - Sep 29)
WATCH A NASA ASTRONAUT AND 2 COSMONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH AFTER 1 YEAR IN SPACE ON SEPT. 27 - Frank Rubio and his two Russian crewmates are scheduled to depart the ISS at 3:54 a.m. ET on Wednesday (Sept. 27). An extra-long space mission for three men in orbit is about to come to an end. American astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA and his two Russian crewmates are scheduled to return to Earth ... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 27)
FIRST LONG-DURATION LIDAR SATELLITE MISSION CALIPSO ENDS - CALIPSO, a lidar satellite that advanced the world’s understanding of climate, weather, and air quality, ended its scientific mission on Aug. 1, 2023. CALIPSO Researchers used the space-based CALIPSO lidar to measure the planet’s largest animal migration, which takes place when small sea cre... More (Source: NASA - Sep 27)
NASA WANTS MORE 'SPACE TUG' IDEAS TO DEORBIT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IN A FIERY FINALE - NASA is asking U.S. industry for proposals to create a "space tug" for removing the International Space Station from orbit in the early 2030s. The agency plans to use a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) to safely steer the International Space Station (ISS) into Earth's atmosphere. (White House official... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 26)
U.S. SPACE FORCE AND ASTROSCALE TO CO-INVEST IN A REFUELING SATELLITE - Astroscale U.S., a provider of on-orbit services to extend the life of satellites, has signed an agreement with the U.S. Space Force to co-invest in an on-orbit refueling vehicle. Col. Joyce Bulson, project manager at Space Systems Command, said the agreement includes $25.5 million in government ... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 26)
SPACE FORCE GETS ANOTHER WEATHER SATELLITE FROM NOAA - The U.S. Space Force for the second time has taken ownership of a retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite to fill gaps in coverage for the U.S. military. NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-15, originally activated in 2011, w... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 25)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CALIFORNIA ON SEPT. 25 - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from California early Monday morning (Sept. 25), carrying 21 Starlink satellites to orbit. The Falcon 9 is lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Monday at 4:48 a.m. EDT (0848 GMT; 1:48 a.m. local California time). The launch was streamed l... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 25)
NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FROM US INDUSTRY FOR STATION DEORBIT SPACECRAFT - NASA has released a request for proposal from U.S. industry for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), a spacecraft meant to safely deorbit the International Space Station as part of its planned retirement. To maximize value to the government and enhance competition, the acquisition will allow offerors... More (Source: NASA - Sep 21)
BANG! INFLATABLE SPACE STATION MODULE BLOWS APART IN EXPLOSIVE TEST - That's now five space station prototypes blown up for science's sake. The Colorado company Sierra Space, which is creating an inflatable module for an International Space Station (ISS) successor, deliberately exploded a new design on Aug. 17 that included a metal plate. (In this case, the plate w... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 21)
SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES STARLINK SATELLITES ON RECORD-BREAKING 17TH FLIGHT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just set a reuse record. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT Sept. 20), carrying 22 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO). The rocket's first stage came back t... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 21)
FCC DIRECTING MORE SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS TO MITIGATE EFFECTS ON ASTRONOMY - The Federal Communications Commission is requiring more operators of satellite constellations to work with astronomers to minimize the effects their satellites will have on ground-based astronomy. The FCC issued authorizations Aug. 31 to Iceye and Planet, updating their licenses to add new satell... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 20)
ROCKET LAB SUFFERS ANOMALY DURING LAUNCH, EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE LOST - Rocket Lab suffered an anomaly during the launch of a radar Earth-observation satellite early Tuesday morning (Sept. 19). An Electron rocket carrying a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft for the California company Capella Space lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site Tuesday at 2:55 ... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 19)
CHINA LAUNCHES YAOGAN-39 REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE - China on Sunday successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A Long March-2D carrier rocket carrying the satellite Yaogan-39 lifted off at 12:13 p.m. (Beijing Time). Sunday's launch was the 488th mission un... More (Source: Xinhua - Sep 18)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES AFTER 1-DAY DELAY - SpaceX launched 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites late on Friday night (Sept. 15) after a one-day delay. A Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT on Sept. 16). SpaceX had been planning... More (Source: Space.com - Sep 17)
FIREFLY LAUNCHES SPACE FORCE ‘VICTUS NOX’ MISSION - The U.S. Space Force announced that Firefly Aerospace successfully launched a Millennium Space small satellite Sept. 14 — a mission designed to demonstrate capabilities to launch in a much shorter timeline than is typical for national security missions. The Space Force mission, known as Victus... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 16)
SOYUZ SPACECRAFT WITH US ASTRONAUT, TWO RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS DOCKS AT ISS - A Russian spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on Friday carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut to join the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), live TV images showed. At 1853 GMT the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with American Loral O'Hara and Russians Ol... More (Source: Reuters - Sep 16)
