CHINA IS PRACTICING ‘DOGFIGHTING’ WITH SATELLITES AS IT RAMPS UP SPACE CAPABILITIES: US SPACE FORCE - China is practicing “dogfighting” satellites as part of its expanding capabilities in space, according to the United States Space Force, which warned that Washington’s key rivals are closing the technology gap as space becomes increasingly critical to security on Earth. The Space Force obse... More (Source: CNN - Mar 22)
NASA DEFENDS DECISIONS ABOUT ASTRONAUTS, SAYS THEY NEVER WERE 'STRANDED' - After the safe return Tuesday of two astronauts left behind for months on the International Space Station, the White House characterized the pair as "stranded" and trumpeted their return as a "rescue." Those are words that NASA has been resisting for months. It made for an awkward situation in a ... More (Source: Phys.org - Mar 21)
SATELLITE OPERATORS WANT BETTER SPACE WEATHER MODELS - Satellite operators need better space weather models to maximize the life of their satellites and to avoid collisions in low Earth orbit. The growth in the population of satellites and debris in orbit, driven by megaconstellations like SpaceX’s Starlink, has provided a new impetus to efforts to... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES FOR THE NRO ON A FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - The National Reconnaissance Office is preparing to launch its eighth batch of satellites to support its proliferated architecture constellation. The mission includes a number of notable milestones for the Falcon 9 rocket program, including a record-fast turnaround time for its booster. A SpaceX F... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 21)
MINI-SATELLITE PAVES THE WAY FOR QUANTUM MESSAGING ANYWHERE ON EARTH - Researchers have broken a distance record in quantum communication by sending a secret encryption key nearly 13,000 km from China to South Africa, using a cheap, lightweight ‘microsatellite’. The satellite was able to send pulses of laser light, put into special quantum states, from a rooftop... More (Source: Nature - Mar 20)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FINAL SET OF KINéIS SATELLITES - Rocket Lab has completed the deployment of a constellation of Internet-of-Things satellites for French company Kinéis with a launch March 17. An Electron rocket lifted off from Pad A of Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:31 p.m. Eastern. The payload of five satellites for Kinéi... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 19)
SWARMS OF SATELLITES ARE HARMING ASTRONOMY. HERE’S HOW RESEARCHERS ARE FIGHTING BACK - In the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest camera ever built. Every three nights, it will produce a map of the entire southern sky filled with stars, galaxies, asteroids and supernovae — and swarms... More (Source: Nature - Mar 19)
SATELLITES POWERED BY SOLID METAL COULD ONE DAY USE SPACE JUNK FOR FUEL - Space is getting crowded — humans have now placed over 20,000 satellites into orbit since the start of the space age, and there are plans to launch thousands more over the next few years. Some of those satellites have already burned up in the atmosphere or fallen back to Earth, often into the o... More (Source: CNN - Mar 19)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES TUESDAY AFTERNOON FALCON 9 FLIGHT - SpaceX launched a batch of 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit as it and NASA are in the process of returning four people from the International Space Station back to Earth. The Starlink 12-25 mission launched using a Falcon 9 rocket departing from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 19)
SPACEX DRAGON FREEDOM SPLASHES DOWN OFF COAST OF FLORIDA, ENDING CREW-9 MISSION - Shortly before 6 p.m. EDT (2200 UTC) on Tuesday evening, the four members of the Crew-9 mission splashed down in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Tallahassee, Florida. The quartet began their journey home onboard the Dragon Freedom spacecraft about an hour after midnight on Tuesday, when the... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 19)
STARLINER ASTRONAUTS HEAD BACK TO EARTH WITH SPACEX CREW-9 DUO TO MAKE LONG-AWAITED LANDING - Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are heading back to Earth after an unexpectedly long and eventful space mission, and you can watch their homecoming live. Wilmore, Williams, fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov departed the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the ... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 18)
NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF CREW-9 RETURN, SPLASHDOWN - NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17. NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Flori... More (Source: NASA - Mar 18)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FINAL 5 SATELLITES FOR FRENCH 'INTERNET OF THINGS' CONSTELLATION - Rocket Lab launched the final five satellites for the French company Kinéis' "Internet of Things" constellation tonight (March 17). An Electron vehicle carrying five of Kinéis' "Internet of Things" spacecraft lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 9:31 p.m. EDT (0131 GMT and 2:3... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 18)
A GOOGLE-BACKED WEAPON TO BATTLE WILDFIRES MADE IT INTO ORBIT - The first satellite of the Google-backed FireSat constellation successfully made it to orbit over the weekend, kicking off what promises to be a new era in wildfire detection and monitoring. The constellation will keep a close eye on wildfires. When fully operational, the constellation’s more t... More (Source: TechCrunch - Mar 18)
NASA’S NEW SATELLITE COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE FARM FOREVER - The NISAR satellite is set to revolutionize global agriculture by providing high-resolution, frequently updated radar data on crops and soil moisture. This breakthrough will allow farmers and policymakers to optimize planting schedules, irrigation, and resource allocation with unprecedented preci... More (Source: SciTechDaily - Mar 17)
SPACEX SETS NEW LAUNCHPAD TURNAROUND RECORD WITH SATURDAY SUNRISE LAUNCH - SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at sunrise Saturday morning. The mission marked a record-breaking turnaround for launch operations at Space Launch Complex 40. The Starlink 12-16 mission added another 23 Starlink Version 2 Mini satell... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 16)
BAHRAIN SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES FIRST LOCALLY DEVELOPED SATELLITE - Bahrain’s first domestically designed and developed satellite, Al-Munther, was launched successfully on Saturday. The project, spearheaded by the National Space Science Agency, marks a milestone for Bahrain’s space ambitions. The 3U CubeSat is the first satellite in the region to integrate ar... More (Source: Arab News - Mar 16)
INTELLIGENCE AND DUAL-USE COMMERCIAL SATELLITES LAUNCH ON TRANSPORTER-13 - SpaceX’s Transporter-13 rideshare mission on March 15 carried dozens of small satellites into orbit, including several funded by U.S. military and intelligence agencies. This was SpaceX’s 13th dedicated smallsat rideshare that has become a regular pipeline to orbit for both commercial and gov... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 16)
SPACEX'S CREW-10 MISSION ARRIVES AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO RELIEVE STARLINER ASTRONAUTS - SpaceX's Crew-10 astronaut mission has arrived at the International Space Station, ending a 28-hour orbital chase. Crew-10 launched on Friday evening (March 14) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sending four astronauts from three different nations toward the orbiting lab. Crew-10's Crew Dragon ca... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
