A NASA SPACECRAFT IS SET TO MAKE AN UNCONTROLLED PLUNGE BACK TO EARTH. HERE ARE THE RISKS - A massive space probe could plummet into Earth’s atmosphere as soon as Tuesday evening — years earlier than expected. And while most of the spacecraft will likely disintegrate in a flaming blaze during reentry, a few components could survive, according to NASA. Early analyses predict the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) vehicle will strike the atmosphere around 7:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, “with an uncertainty of +/- 24 hours,” according to NASA and the US Space Force. More (Source: CNN - Mar 11)
SPACEX LAUNCHES DIRECT TELEVISION SATELLITE FOR ECHOSTAR - A direct television satellite for Dish Network, a subsidiary of EchoStar, headed into geostationary Earth orbit on Monday night aboard a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. The satellite, EchoStar 25, flew to a geosynchronous transfer orbit before maneuvering to its operation position at 110 degrees West above the equator. Liftoff of the 70-meter-tall launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 12:19 a.m. EDT (0419 UTC). The rocket flew due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 10)
INCOMING! 1,300-POUND NASA SATELLITE WILL CRASH TO EARTH ON MARCH 10 - A big NASA satellite will crash back to Earth on Tuesday (March 10) after nearly 14 years in orbit, experts say. The spacecraft in question is the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) Van Allen Probe A (RBSP A), which launched in August 2012 along with its twin, Van Allen Probe B, to study the radiation belts around Earth for which they're named. Both spacecraft were deactivated in 2019, and Van Allen Probe A's time off Earth is now nearly up. As of Monday afternoon (March 9), the U.S. Space Force predicted that the satellite will reenter Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT), plus or minus 24 hours. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 10)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG SFB SUNDAY - SpaceX launched its latest Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning following a mission scrub on Saturday. The Starlink 17-18 mission added 25 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s megaconstellation of more than 9,900 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 4:00:19 a.m. PDT (7:00:19 a.m. EDT / 1100:19 UTC). The rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 9)
EUROPE'S SOLAR MISSION HIT BY SATELLITE BLACKOUT - ESA’s Proba-3 solar mission has lost contact with its Coronagraph spacecraft after a mid-February anomaly caused it to lose orientation and power. The satellite, part of a dual-spacecraft system to study the Sun’s corona, is now in survival mode with communications cut. Engineers are exploring using the healthy Occulter satellite to approach and assess the Coronagraph for possible recovery. More (Source: MSN - Mar 9)
SPACEX SCRUBS SATURDAY FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG SFB, TARGETING SUNDAY - SpaceX scrubbed its planned morning Falcon 9 rocket launch on Saturday, March 7, from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It’s now aiming to fly on Sunday morning. The Starlink 17-18 mission will add 25 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s megaconstellation of more than 9,900 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 3:59:40 a.m. PDT (6:59:40 a.m. EDT / 1059:40 UTC). The rocket will fly on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 8)
CONGRESS EXTENDS ISS AND TELLS NASA TO GET MOVING ON PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS - Two months ago, a key staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz said in a public meeting that she was “begging” NASA to release a document that would kick off the second round of a competition among private companies to develop replacements for the International Space Station. There has been no movement since then, as NASA has yet to release this “request for proposals.” So this week, Cruz stepped up the pressure on the space agency with a NASA Authorization bill that passed his committee on Wednesday. More (Source: Ars Technica - Mar 7)
JAPAN'S 1ST HTV-X CARGO CRAFT LEAVES THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Japan's new HTV-X cargo spacecraft departed the International Space Station today (March 6) after a four-month stay. The vehicle — known as HTV-X1, because it's the first of its kind — was released by the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm today at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), right on schedule. The ISS was flying about 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean at the time, according to a NASA update. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 7)
IT’S TIME TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE UNCHECKED GROWTH OF SATELLITE MEGA CONSTELLATIONS - I remember the first time I saw a satellite. I was a teenager, standing in my mildly light-polluted suburban yard and doing my usual stargazing. The satellite was a faint “star” moving slowly and smoothly across the sky, and as I watched it, I felt a mix of awe and wonder that such a thing could be seen—and that humans could put an object into orbit at all. That was a lifetime ago, and I now look back on that evening with more discomfiture than nostalgia; my adolescent naivete feels almost embarrassing... More (Source: Scientific American - Mar 7)
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