CHINA'S COMMERCIAL CERES-1 Y9 ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITES - China on Tuesday launched the CERES-1 Y9 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, sending two new satellites into their planned orbits. The commercial rocket blasted off at 7:33 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site. The launch was the 11th flight mission ... More (Source: Xinhua - Dec 6)
INDIA RETURNS CHANDRAYAAN-3 PROPULSION MODULE TO EARTH ORBIT - The spacecraft that transported the Chandrayaan-3 lander to the moon has returned to Earth orbit, a demonstration of technologies to support a future Indian lunar sample return mission. The Indian space agency ISRO announced Dec. 4 that the propulsion module for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is now i... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 5)
SOUTH KOREA FLIES SOLID-FUEL ROCKET AMID SPACE RACE WITH NORTH KOREA - South Korea on Monday successfully conducted a flight of a solid-fuel rocket carrying a satellite over the sea near Jeju Island, the defence ministry said, amid a growing space race with neighbouring North Korea. It was the third successful test of the rocket's technology after two others in Marc... More (Source: Reuters - Dec 5)
TENSE 'I.S.S.' TRAILER TEASES ASTRONAUTS FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF THE SPACE STATION - What would happen onboard the International Space Station (ISS) if war broke out on Earth? That's the question posed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite's tense-looking sci-fi I.S.S., which sees U.S. astronauts suddenly pitted against their Russian colleagues when they receive orders from the ground to tak... More (Source: Marshable - Dec 5)
COSMONAUTS DOCK RUSSIAN PROGRESS CARGO SHIP TO ISS ON REMOTE CONTROL AFTER AUTOPILOT GLITCH - Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took manual control of an incoming cargo ship carrying tons of supplies after its automated rendezvous system suffered a glitch. The unpiloted cargo ship, called Progress 86, docked to the station's Russian-built Poisk module under remo... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 4)
LIFT-OFF FOR EIRSAT-1, IRELAND’S FIRST EVER SATELLITE - EIRSAT-1 was designed, built, and tested by students from University College Dublin (UCD) participating in ESA Academy’s Fly Your Satellite! program, a hands-on initiative supporting university student teams to develop their own satellites according to professional standards. The launch opportunit... More (Source: SatNews - Dec 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL ON STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 UTC). Overcoming weather hurdles, the Starlink 6-31 mission ma... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 4)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP - A Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with more than 5,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, kicking off a two-day orbital chase. Perched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, the Progress MS-25/86P spacecraft took off from the... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 3)
CHINA RELEASES 1ST IMAGES OF COMPLETE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - The crew of China's Shenzhou 16 mission captured incredible images of the Tiangong Space Station as they departed on their way back to Earth. The pictures, taken with a high-definition camera, represent the first time the full structure of the Tiangong space station has been fully imaged since i... More (Source: Space.com - Dec 3)
SPACEX LAUNCHES RIDE SHARE MISSION WITH SOUTH KOREAN SPY SATELLITE, FIRST IRISH SATELLITE - Kicking off the month of December for SpaceX was a Falcon 9 ride share mission with a payload of 25 spacecraft on board. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was headlined by the Korea 425 mission. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 10:19 a.m. PST (1:19 EST,... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 2)
AMAZON BUYS SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES FOR KUIPER SATELLITE INTERNET PROJECT - Amazon bought three rocket launches from SpaceX for its Project Kuiper internet satellites, the tech giant announced on Friday. The move is a surprise from Amazon, given the company’s Kuiper system aims to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in the satellite broadband market. Both Starlink and ... More (Source: CNBC - Dec 2)
SATELLITE IMAGERY REVEALS EXPLOSION AT CHINA’S JIUQUAN SPACEPORT - A Chinese launch vehicle maker appears to have suffered an explosion at a test site at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Satellite images show what are likely test stand facilities and the apparent aftermath of an exhaust plume from a hot fire test on the desert surface. Charred debris can be seen... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 1)
S. KOREA SPY SATELLITE TO LIFT OFF AT VANDENBERG DAYS AFTER N. KOREA LAUNCHES ONE - South Korea is set to launch its inaugural homemade reconnaissance satellite on Dec. 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. The electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) satellite, to be carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is Seoul’s first of five planned satellites. Following the initial positio... More (Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine - Dec 1)
NASA WARNS OF “VERY PROBLEMATIC” SPACE TECHNOLOGY BUDGET CUTS - The head of NASA’s space technology directorate warned an advisory group of a “significant impact” to some programs if the Senate version of an appropriations bill for 2024 becomes law. Speaking at a Nov. 30 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s technology, innovation and engineering mee... More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 1)
SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY SATELLITES IN LOW EARTH ORBIT SUCCESSFULLY BROADCAST DATA - The Space Development Agency for the first time demonstrated space-to-ground data communications from low Earth orbit satellites launched earlier this year. In three demonstrations held over the past several days, Link 16 terminals on three satellites in orbit were able to talk to radios on the g... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 30)
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, GOVERNMENTS PROPOSED LAUNCHING OVER ONE MILLION SATELLITES, BUT WHERE WILL THEY ALL GO? - In September 2021, Rwanda announced that it was planning to launch over 300,000 satellites. Three months later, a Canadian company, having previously launched two dozen CubeSats, said it would launch an additional 100,000. Then, a French company did likewise. And SpaceX, which has already launched a... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 30)
US READY TO COLLABORATE FOR BUILDING INDIAN SPACE STATION - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Bill Nelson, on Tuesday, said that the United States is willing to working with India to construct its own space station. Nelson, who arrived in India today, stated that India and the US are working on plans to send an Indian astron... More (Source: The Times of India - Nov 29)
NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH, DOCKING - NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of the Roscosmos Progress 86 cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 70 crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:25 a.m. EST on Friday, Dec... More (Source: PR Newswire - Nov 29)
FIREFLY TO LAUNCH A LOCKHEED MARTIN SATELLITE ANTENNA DEMONSTRATION - The next launch by Firefly Aerospace, scheduled for December, will be an electronically steerable antenna payload designed by Lockheed Martin for a technology demonstration. Lockheed Martin in June announced it awarded Firefly a contract to launch a small satellite. The company on Nov. 27 disclos... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 29)
