NASA‘S ACS3 SATELLITE, BUILT BY NANOAVIONICS, SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOYS SOLAR SAIL - Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center test deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System’s solar sail. The unfurled solar sail is approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) on a side. Since solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to efficiently generate thrust. Photo of the sail is courtesy of NASA.   More
(Source: SatNews - Sep 20)

SPACEX CREW-9 ASTRONAUT LAUNCH DELAYED TO SEPT. 25 - The next space station astronaut mission will delay one day to Sept. 25. The delay in the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is "to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations", NASA officials wrote in a Sept. 12 statement. If Crew-9 misses the Sept. 25 opportunity, backup dates are available on Sept. 26, 27 and 28.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 19)

DEPARTURE PREPS UNDERWAY AS NEW CREW STEPS UP SCIENCE, MAINTENANCE - Two crews are nearing the end of their stay aboard the International Space Station while the orbital residents continue ongoing microgravity research and lab maintenance. Next week will see the departure of NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The trio will undock the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft from the Prichal docking module at 4:37 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, soar into Earth’s atmosphere, and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 8 a.m. Dyson will be wrapping up a six-month mission while Kononenko and Chub will be completing just over a year of continuously orbiting Earth.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 19)

MUSK'S SATELLITES 'BLOCKING' VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE - Radio waves from Elon Musk’s growing network of satellites are blocking scientists’ ability to peer into the universe, according to researchers in the Netherlands. The new generation of Starlink satellites, which provide fast internet around the world, are interfering more with radio telescopes than earlier versions, they say. The thousands of orbiting satellites are “blinding” radio telescopes and may be hindering astronomical research, according to Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON).   More
(Source: BBC - Sep 19)

ROCKET LAB’S ELECTRON ROCKET EXPERIENCES ABORT AS ITS RUTHERFORD ENGINES BEGAN FIRING, PRIOR TO LIFTOFF - Rocket Lab had to stand down from launching its 53rd Electron rocket on a mission for the France-based Internet of Things company, Kinéis. The rocket aborted prior to liftoff after the nine Rutherford engines began firing about two seconds prior. The mission, dubbed ‘Kinéis Killed the RadIOT Star’ by Rocket Lab, was set to launch from Launch Complex 1 Pad A on Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. NZST (Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. EDT, 2300 UTC). Because it was an instantaneous launch window, Rocket Lab had to pivot from further launch attempts on Thursday (local time) and look to a future launch opportunity.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 19)

FRANCE PLANS LOW-ORBIT DEMONSTRATOR THAT CAN TARGET OTHER SATELLITES - France plans to launch a maneuverable satellite into low Earth orbit in the next two years that can target other satellites, something French Space Command said is necessary to show the country can take action to protect its space assets. French nanosatellite builder U-Space will supply the demonstrator in partnership with missile maker MBDA, French Space Command boss Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam and company executives said at an industry conference in Paris on Tuesday. They didn’t detail the satellite’s offensive capabilities, though a presentation video showed the satellite targeting another orbiter with a green laser beam.   More
(Source: Defense News - Sep 18)

LAUNCH ROUNDUP: FALCON 9 AND ELECTRON TO EXTEND SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS - This week’s manifest includes the delayed launches of a Falcon 9 with Galileo global positioning satellites and an Electron with a second batch of satellites for Kinéis. SpaceX will also launch one batch of Starlink satellites from California as the constellation increases to 6,000 operational satellites. Following last weekend’s return and recovery of the Polaris Dawn crew onboard Crew Dragon Resilience, the crew of Soyuz MS-25 is scheduled to return to Earth next week...   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 18)

SPACEX LAUNCHES EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S GALILEO SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched the latest pair of Galileo spacecraft for the European Union’s navigation satellite constellation. The mission marked the second time that Galileo satellites will launch from U.S. soil, following the so-called L-12 mission, which flew on another Falcon 9 rocket back in April 2024. Liftoff of the L-13 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 6:50 p.m. EDT (2250 UTC). Deployment is expected a little more than 3.5 hours after liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 18)

RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE(S) PAYLOAD IDENTITY HIGHLY UNCERTAIN TOP SECRET LAUNCH ON TUESDAY - On Tuesday, September 17th Russia’s Angara 1.2 rocket is launching a Russian military satellite(s) of unknown identity from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation at a cost of $31,000,000, weather permitting. The forecast calls for a temperature of 61°F, overcast clouds, 100% cloud cover and a wind speed of 3mph.   More
(Source: SatNews - Sep 17)

Next