RUSSIA LAUNCHES 3 TONS OF CARGO TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FROM KAZAKHSTAN - Russia launched its latest Progress cargo ship toward the International Space Station today (April 25). A Soyuz rocket topped with the robotic Progress 95 freighter lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today at 6:21 p.m. EDT (2221 GMT; 3:21 a.m. on April 26 local time). The Russian freighter, known as Progress 95, is hauling about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). More (Source: Space.com - Apr 26)
NASA SHARES SPACEX CREW-13 ASSIGNMENTS FOR SPACE STATION MISSION - As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch no earlier than mid-September to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition. NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. They will be joined by CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, who will serve as mission specialists. After arriving at the orbiting laboratory, Crew-13 will become members of the space station’s Expedition 75. More (Source: NASA - Apr 25)
NASA SETS EARLY SEPTEMBER LAUNCH DATE FOR ROMAN SPACE TELESCOPE - NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now scheduled for launch in early September as agency officials hail its early completion despite ongoing budget uncertainty for its science programs. NASA announced at a media event at the Goddard Space Flight Center April 21 that the space telescope had completed final assembly and testing ahead of shipment to the Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 24)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES JAPANESE 'ORIGAMI' SATELLITE, 7 OTHER SPACECRAFT TO ORBIT - Rocket Lab sent eight Japanese satellites to orbit from New Zealand on Wednesday night (April 22), including one with a unique "origami" construction. An Electron vehicle launched the "Kakuchin Rising" mission from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site on Wednesday at 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT and 3:19 p.m. local New Zealand time on Thursday, April 23). More (Source: Space.com - Apr 23)
NASA ROLLS OUT ARTEMIS 3 SLS ROCKET'S HUGE CORE STAGE TO GEAR UP FOR 2027 LAUNCH - A week and a half after the epic Artemis 2 mission splashed down, the biggest piece of NASA's next moon rocket is on the move. On Monday (April 20), NASA rolled out the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will launch Artemis 3, the next mission in the agency's Artemis program of moon exploration. More (Source: NASA - Apr 23)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 24 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX launched its 40th Starlink mission of the year when its Falcon 9 rocket took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday night. The Starlink 17-14 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation, which consists of more than 10,200 spacecraft. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 8:23:09 p.m. PDT (11:23:09 p.m. EDT / 0323:09 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 23)
ROSCOSMOS PROGRESS 93 CARGO SPACECRAFT DEPARTS STATION - The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 93 spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 6:08 p.m. EDT Monday, backing away for a deorbit maneuver and a planned destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. More (Source: NASA - Apr 22)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FINAL GPS III SATELLITE FOR THE U.S. SPACE FORCE - The U.S. Space Force launched its final Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite into medium Earth orbit in the predawn hours of Tuesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 2:53:25 a.m. EDT (0653:25 UTC). The mission was delayed a day due to poor weather in the recovery zone for the first stage. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 22)
CHINA RAMPS UP SATELLITE PRODUCTION CAPACITY AMID CONSTELLATION AMBITIONS - China is rapidly building a broad, diverse satellite manufacturing base capable of producing thousands of spacecraft annually, but faces bottlenecks in launch and uncertain demand. The country has already established dozens of facilities spanning state-owned institutes, commercial firms and regionally-backed clusters, with further future factories expected to take capacity to around 7,000 satellites per year, according to a space industry assessment. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 21)
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