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)
SOUTH KOREA DELAYS ITS OWN SPY SATELLITE LIFTOFF, DAYS AFTER NORTH'S SATELLITE LAUNCH - South Korea has postponed the planned launch of its first military spy satellite set for this Thursday, officials said, days after rival North Korea claimed to put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time. Under a contract with SpaceX, South Korea is to launch five spy satellites by 20... More (Source: Yahoo News - Nov 29)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service soared into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff occurred at 11:20 p.m. EST (0420 UTC) the Falcon 9 piercing a thin layer of cloud as it headed on southerly tr... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 28)
LAUNCH OF IRELAND’S 1ST SATELLITE IS UPCOMING… - Built by students at University College Dublin under guidance of ESA’s Education Office, EIRSAT-1 is a 2U CubeSat carrying three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector that will study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe. The mission has been in development since the ... More (Source: SatNews - Nov 27)
NORTH KOREA ROCKET EXPLODES DURING SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH, AND METEOR HUNTERS CAUGHT IT ON CAMERA - The first stage of a North Korean rocket apparently exploded Tuesday (Nov. 21) during a purported spy satellite launch, a new video suggests. A camera at South Korea's Yonsei University, usually used for tracking meteors or shooting stars, showed the first stage of the North Korean Chollima-1 roc... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 27)
CHINA CONDUCTS LAUNCH TO TEST SATELLITE INTERNET CAPABILITIES - China sent an undisclosed number of satellites into orbit Thursday to test satellite internet technologies. A Long March 2D rocket using a Yuanzheng-3 upper stage lifted off at 5:00 a.m. Eastern (1000 UTC) Nov. 23 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. The China Aerospace Scienc... More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 24)
