NASA, SPACEX CARGO RESUPPLY MISSION TO ISS SCHEDULED TO LIFTOFF FROM CAPE CANAVERAL MARCH 21 - New research and technology demonstrations for NASA are set to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The launch is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 21, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral ... More (Source: Space Coast Daily - Mar 18)
CHINA PREPARES TO LAUNCH RELAY SATELLITE QUEQIAO-2 - The combination of the relay satellite Queqiao-2 and the Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket was vertically transferred on Sunday to the launching area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province. The satellite is projected to be launched at an appropriate time within the next... More (Source: China Military - Mar 18)
ELON MUSK'S SPACEX IS BUILDING A NETWORK OF SPY SATELLITES FOR U.S. INTELLIGENCE, REPORT SAYS - SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, is building a new network of spy satellites in a classified project for an American intelligence agency, according to a new report. Reuters, citing unnamed sources familiar with the classified contract, reports that the new network will involve hundreds of spy... More (Source: Quartz - Mar 17)
DEBRIS FROM BURNING SATELLITES COULD BE AFFECTING EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD - The environmental impacts of spaceflight are becoming increasingly clear as more and more spacecraft are launched into Earth's orbit. The growing number of satellites burning up in Earth's atmosphere has concerned scientists for years, and now a new paper explores how the emerging shell of "condu... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 6,000TH STARLINK SATELLITE ON FRIDAY NIGHT FLIGHT - SpaceX tied its rocket-reuse record on Friday (March 15), while placing its 6,000th Starlink internet satellite into Earth orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 more of the company's Starlink satellites launched at 8:21 p.m. EDT (0021 GMT March 16) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
NASA RESTRUCTURES EARTH SYSTEM OBSERVATORY TO REDUCE COSTS - NASA is revamping a major series of Earth science missions, delaying some and relying more on international partners for others to reduce costs. As part of NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal released March 11, the agency said it was restructuring the Earth System Observatory line of missio... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 16)
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM: SPACEX’S MASSIVE STARSHIP REACHES SPACE - SpaceX has successfully conducted a test launch of its massive Starship rocket. The rocket took off from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 9:25 a.m. ET. The liftoff was smooth, as all 33 of the Starship’s “Super Heavy” booster engines fired in synchrony. The giant r... More (Source: WPR - Mar 15)
SURPRISE CHINESE LUNAR MISSION HIT BY LAUNCH ANOMALY - A pair of Chinese spacecraft, apparently intended for lunar orbit, have potentially been lost following an issue with a Long March rocket’s upper stage on Wednesday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 8:51 a.m. Eastern (1251 UTC) March 13. There was no off... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 15)
JAPAN'S 1ST SATELLITE LAUNCH ATTEMPT BY PRIVATE FIRM FAILS - A Space One Co. satellite-carrying rocket exploded Wednesday moments after liftoff from a spaceport in western Japan, dealing a setback to the company's aspirations of becoming the first private Japanese firm to place a satellite into orbit. The company's 18-meter-long Kairos rocket failed in its... More (Source: Kyodo News - Mar 14)
NOAA-21 IS NOW THE PRIMARY SATELLITE IN THE JPSS FLEET - NOAA-21 is now operating as the primary satellite in NOAA’s advanced Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), the agency announced today. The satellite launched in November 2022 as JPSS-2, and was renamed NOAA-21 when it reached orbit. NOAA-21 now gives NOAA three spacecraft operating the most sophist... More (Source: noaa/nesdis - Mar 13)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FOURTH SATELLITE FOR JAPANESE EARTH-IMAGING COMPANY, SYNSPECTIVE - Rocket Lab launches its third Electron mission of the year and its fourth for Japanese Earth-imaging company, Synspective. The mission, dubbed “Owl Night Long,” lifted off on March 13 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1 in Mahia, New Zealand, at 4:03 a.m. NZDT (11:03 a.m. EDT, 1503 UTC). Thi... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 12)
SPACEX'S CREW-7 CAPSULE RETURNS 4 ASTRONAUTS TO EARTH WITH PREDAWN SPLASHDOWN - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-7 mission returned to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), with their homecoming broadcast live. Crew-7's Dragon capsule, Endurance, splashed down at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 UTC) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The recovery crew arrived at the capsule arou... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 12)
CREW-7 BEGINS JOURNEY HOME FOLLOWING SIX-MONTH STAY AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A journey of more than half a year orbiting around the world is coming to an end for the four-member team of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission. The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 UTC) after 197 days. Commander and NASA astronau... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 12)
SPACEX COMPLETES DOUBLE LAUNCH DAY WITH ITS SECOND STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX completed a double launch day on Sunday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Starlink 7-17 mission will add another 23 satellites to the growing low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) occurred at 9:09 p.m. PDT ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 11)
NASA, BOEING DELAY STARLINER CAPSULE'S 1ST ASTRONAUT LAUNCH TO EARLY MAY - The long-delayed first crewed mission of Boeing's new Starliner capsule has been pushed back again. That mission to the International Space Station (ISS), called Crew Flight Test (CFT), had been tentatively scheduled to launch in mid-April. But that's no longer the plan, NASA and Boeing announced... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 10)
WATCH ANDREAS RETURN TO EARTH - After more than six months on the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen and the rest of Crew-7 will undock and make their way down to Earth on 11 March 2024 at 13:15 GMT/14:15 CET, splashing down off the coast the Florida on 12 March, at 09:35 GMT / 10:35 CET. Watch the undock... More (Source: European Space Agency - Mar 10)
NANOAVIONICS SATELLITES EXPAND 2 CONSTELLATIONS WITH THE SPACEX TRANSPORTER-10 MISSION LAUNCH - OQ Technology’s Tiger-7 and Tiger-8 nanosatellites will expand the world’s first and largest 5G Narrowband-IoT constellation in LEO to ten satellites. The two 6U nanosatellites constitute the fifth and sixth satellite that NanoAvionics has manufactured for OQ Technology. All of OQ Technology’s... More (Source: SatNews - Mar 9)
5,800 POUNDS OF BATTERIES TOSSED OFF THE ISS IN 2021 WILL FALL TO EARTH TODAY - A nearly 3-ton leftover tossed overboard from the International Space Station is nearing its plunge toward Earth. The multi-ton Exposed Pallet 9 (EP9) was jettisoned from the space station back in March 2021. At the time, it was reported to be the most massive object ever tossed overboard from th... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 9)
REENTRY OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) BATTERIES INTO EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE - The European Space Agency (ESA) Space Debris and Independent Safety Offices are closely monitoring the reentry of a pallet of used ISS batteries and calculating estimates for when and where the reentry will occur. The batteries, nine in total, were released on 11 January 2021 and will undergo a n... More (Source: European Space Agency - Mar 8)