SPACEX MISSION RETURNS FROM SPACE STATION WITH EX-NASA ASTRONAUT, 3 PAYING CUSTOMERS - A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, Florida, late Tuesday. The Crew Dragon capsule was seen as it streaked across the southeastern U.S. and made a sonic boom before it splashed into the water. The nighttime return capped a nine-day mission that launched in a SpaceX Falcon rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked at the International Space Station in Earth's orbit. More (Source: NPR - Jun 1)
NORTH KOREA SAYS SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH CRASHED INTO SEA - Pyongyang announced earlier it planned to launch a satellite by 11 June to monitor US military activities. It now says it will attempt a second launch as soon as possible. The launch sparked a false alarm in the South Korean capital Seoul, while in Japan a warning was issued to residents of Okinawa, in the south. More (Source: BBC News - May 31)
SHENZHOU-16 ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT CHINA’S SPACE STATION - A crew of three astronauts including the first Chinese civilian astronaut has arrived at the Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 9:31 p.m. Eastern May 29. Rendezvous and docking with a radial Tiangong docking port was completed at 4:29 a.m. May 30, China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSA, confirmed. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 31)
CHINESE ASTRONAUT LAUNCH BREAKS RECORD FOR MOST PEOPLE IN ORBIT - The launch of the next crew to China’s Tiangong space station late Monday (U.S. time) added three astronauts to the population of humans in space, which reached a record number of 17 people in orbit — six Chinese citizens, five Americans, three Russians, two Saudis, and one Emirati astronaut. The arrival of Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gai Haichao in space following their launch atop a Long March rocket broke the previous record of 14 people in orbit at one time. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 30)
CHINA LAUNCHES 3 ASTRONAUTS TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION ON SHENZHOU 16 SPACECRAFT - A new crew of three astronauts is on its way to China's Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F rocket launched the Shenzhou 16 crew spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert today (May 29) at 9:31 p.m. EDT (0131 GMT; 9:31 p.m. local time on May 30). Spacecraft separation occurred around 10 minutes later, according to the China National Space Administration, which declared the launch "a complete success." More (Source: Space.com - May 30)
NORTH KOREA NOTIFIES NEIGHBORING JAPAN IT PLANS TO LAUNCH SATELLITE IN COMING DAYS - North Korea on Monday notified neighboring Japan that it plans to launch a satellite in coming days, which may be an attempt to put its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said he ordered Japan’s Self Defense Force to shoot down the satellite or debris, if any entered Japanese territory. Japan's coast guard said the notice it received from North Korean waterway authorities said the launch window was from May 31 to June 11, and that the launch may affect waters in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and east of the Philippines' Luzon Island. More (Source: ABC News - May 30)
SPACEX ROCKET SENDS ARABSAT COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - SpaceX kicked off Memorial Day weekend with an overnight launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral, boosting a nearly five-ton communications satellite into orbit for Arabsat, a multinational consortium providing TV and video broadcast services across the Middle East. SpaceX scrubbed a launch attempt early Wednesday at Cape Canaveral due to thick cloud cover, then delayed the liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket to later in the week to wait for improved weather and to make room for the test-firing of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket at a neighboring launch pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 30)
SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY TO LAUNCH 13 SATELLITES IN LATE JUNE - The Space Development Agency is preparing to launch at least 13 satellites in late June, the agency’s director Derek Tournear said May 26. This will be SDA’s second launch of Tranche 0 satellites for its proliferated low Earth orbit constellation. Tranche 0 is a 28-satellite demonstration constellation. The first 10 spacecraft — eight communications satellites made by York Space and two missile-detection satellites made by SpaceX — launched April 2 on a SpaceX Falcon 9. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 30)
RUSSIA’S PROGRESS MS-23 RESUPPLY MISSION ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION - Roscosmos launched its Progress MS-23 spacecraft to the International Space Station on Wednesday. Liftoff, atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket, occurred 12:56 UTC (6:56 p.m. local time), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It docked without issue a few hours later. Progress MS-23 is the latest in a long series of uncrewed Progress cargo spacecraft which Russia uses to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). It is the 23rd flight of the Progress MS vehicle and is also designated Progress 84P by NASA – which signifies that it is the 84th Progress cargo delivery mission to the ISS. This number includes missions flown by earlier versions of the Progress vehicle. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - May 27)
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