ITALIAN MISSION ADDS TO GROWING IRIDE SPACE FLEET - The Italian programme IRIDE, which provides public sector services based on data from its fleet of Earth observation constellations, has added eight satellites to its second constellation, Eaglet II. The Eaglet II satellites lifted off on board a Falcon 9 rocket at 19:44 CET (10:44 local time), 28 November, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US. All satellites were placed into orbit about one hour after launch. Acquisition of signal for all satellites was confirmed several hours later by OHB’s Mission Control Centre in Rome. More (Source: European Space Agency - Dec 1)
THE METOP SECOND GENERATION-B1 SATELLITE LAUNCH DRAWS CLOSER - The launch of the MetOp second generation-B1 satellite is scheduled for 2026 as it enters its third round of pre-launch testing. This satellite will be the second entry in the MetOp second generation satellite program, as the first entry, the second-generation A1 satellite, was launched a few months ago. The soon-to-launch MetOp second generation-B1 satellite will work together with the second generation-A1 satellite, which is already in polar orbit. More (Source: Orbital Today - Dec 1)
CHINA PLANS 'ORBITAL GUARDIAN,' A 156-SATELLITE SAFEGUARD FOR SPACE - China is deploying a satellite constellation to enhance its space situational awareness, focusing on debris tracking for collision avoidance. The constellation will be used to track space debris and ensure the safe operation of spacecraft. With global coverage, it is a responsive low Earth orbit monitoring network designed to provide space debris monitoring, collision risk prediction and support for space traffic management, thereby protecting space stations, spacecraft and satellites from space-based threats. More (Source: CGTN - Dec 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 140 SPACECRAFT ON TRANSPORTER-15 RIDESHARE MISSION - The second time proved to be the charm as SpaceX successfully launched 140 payloads onboard its Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday morning. The flight came two days after SpaceX scrubbed the mission around the time liquid oxygen load was supposed to start on the rocket’s upper stage. At the beginning of its launch broadcast, SpaceX commentators said the reason for the scrub was a ground systems issue. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)
RUSSIA'S ONLY ACTIVE LAUNCH PAD FOR COSMONAUTS DAMAGED BY SOYUZ CREW LAUNCH TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia's successful launch of three new crew members to the International Space Station on Thursday (Nov. 27), resulted in damage to country's only active launch pad for crewed spaceflights to the orbiting lab, Russia's federal space corporation has confirmed. The maintenance cabin (also referred to as a service platform) located in the flame trench at the Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 31/6 in Kazakhstan reportedly collapsed in the wake of the Soyuz MS-28 crew launching to the space station atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket. The platform is needed in the preparation of boosters launching from the pad. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 1)
SOUTH KOREA’S LARGEST SATELLITE LAUNCHED ON NURI ROCKET IN AMBITIOUS SPACE MISSION - South Korea launched its largest satellite yet on its nationally developed space rocket early Thursday in the fourth of six launches planned through 2027. The three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from a spaceport on an island off the southwestern coastal county of Goheung. Aerospace officials said the rocket placed a 516-kilogram (1,137-pound) science satellite and 12 microsatellites into a target orbit about 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth. More (Source: AP News - Nov 28)
NASA ASTRONAUT CHRIS WILLIAMS, CREWMATES ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION - NASA astronaut Chris Williams, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, safely arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, expanding the orbiting laboratory’s crew to 10 for the next two weeks. The trio launched aboard the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After a three-hour, two-orbit journey, the spacecraft docked at 7:34 a.m. to the space station’s Rassvet module. More (Source: NASA - Nov 28)
NASA ASTRONAUT, TWO COSMONAUTS TAKE THANKSGIVING DAY RIDE TO SPACE STATION - Astronomer-turned-medical physicist and now NASA astronaut Chris Williams joined two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz ferry ship Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day flight to the International Space Station, kicking off a planned eight-month stay in orbit. With commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov at the controls of the Soyuz MS-28/74S spacecraft, flanked on his left by flight engineer Sergey Mikaev and on the right by Williams, the crew’s Soyuz 2.1a booster roared to life at 4:27 a.m. EST and smoothly climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 27)
SPACEX SCRUBS TRANSPORTER-15 LAUNCH, TARGETS FRIDAY FOR NEXT ATTEMPT - SpaceX is preparing to fly dozens of spacecraft into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) during its fourth smallsat rideshare mission of the year as part of its Transporter series. The flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was set to happen a day before the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the United States, but the launch scrubbed about 15.5 minutes prior to liftoff. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 27)
Next
