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)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES PRIVATE RADAR IMAGING SATELLITE TO ORBIT - Rocket Lab launched a private radar imaging satellite to orbit tonight (March 14). An Electron vehicle carrying a single satellite for the Japan-based Earth-imaging company iQPS lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 1 p.m. local New Zealand time on March ... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 15)
NASA, SPACEX LAUNCH CREW-10 TO BEGIN FLIGHT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Second time was the charm for NASA and SpaceX as they successfully launch the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station on Friday evening. Unlike the hydraulic issue that cropped up early in the count on Wednesday, the second launch attempt moved through the fueling process without issue... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 15)
NASA, SPACEX PREPARE FOR MARCH 14 CREW LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with plans to launch the agency’s Crew-10 mission at 7:03 p.m. EDT Friday, March 14, to the International Space Station. On Thursday, SpaceX ground teams completed inspections of the ground support hydraulics system used for the clamp arm supporting the Falcon 9 rock... More (Source: NASA - Mar 14)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK BROADBAND SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Wednesday night (March 12). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday at 10:35 p.m. EDT (0235 GMT o... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 14)
NASA’S PUNCH SATELLITES DEPLOYED - Deployment of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission’s four satellites has occurred. Following a 90-day commissioning period, the PUNCH mission is scheduled to conduct science for at least two years. NASA’s PUNCH will observe the Sun’s corona as it transiti... More (Source: NASA - Mar 13)
HYDRAULICS ISSUE ON STRONGBACK CAUSES SCRUB OF CREW-10 LAUNCH - NASA and SpaceX were less than an hour away from the launch of a new four crew to the International Space Station on Wednesday evening when a hydraulics issue caused a mission scrub. The flight is needed to relieve the station’s current crew, including the two astronauts who originally launched on... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 13)
ASTRONAUTS LAUNCHING TO SPACE WILL FINALLY RELIEVE THE PAIR WHO FLEW ON BOEING'S TROUBLED CAPSULE - Four astronauts are gearing up to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday. Their arrival will, at long last, kick off the process of bringing NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore home to Earth. Williams and Wilmore have been the focus of public attention since they launc... More (Source: NBC News - Mar 12)
LONG MARCH 8 LAUNCHES THOUSAND SAILS SATELLITES FROM COMMERCIAL SPACEPORT - A new group of 18 satellites entered orbit Tuesday for the Thousand Sails constellation with the first launch from a new commercial launch pad. A Long March 8 rocket lifted off at 12:38 p.m. Eastern (1638 UTC) March 11 from launch pad 1 of the Hainan Commercial Launch Site near Wenchang, Hainan i... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 12)
CHINA CREATES POWERFUL SPY SATELLITE CAPABLE OF SEEING FACIAL DETAILS FROM LOW ORBIT - Scientists in China have created a satellite with laser-imaging technology powerful enough to capture human facial details from more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away. This breakthrough represents a performance increase of 100 times or more compared to leading spy cameras and traditional telesc... More (Source: Live Science - Mar 12)
STUDY: CLIMATE CHANGE WILL REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SATELLITES THAT CAN SAFELY ORBIT IN SPACE - MIT aerospace engineers have found that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the environment of near-Earth space in ways that, over time, will reduce the number of satellites that can sustainably operate there. In a study appearing today in Nature Sustainability, the researchers report that carb... More (Source: MIT News - Mar 11)
SWISSTO12 TO BUILD SMALL ASIA-FOCUSED DIRECT-TO-DEVICE GEO SATELLITE - Singapore’s Astrum Mobile has ordered a small satellite from Swissto12 to deliver resilient, low-bandwidth multimedia and connectivity services directly to devices across Asia from geostationary orbit (GEO). Announcing its third customer for the HummingSat platform March 10, Switzerland-based S... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 11)
