SOUTH KOREA FLIES SOLID-FUEL ROCKET AMID SPACE RACE WITH NORTH KOREA - South Korea on Monday successfully conducted a flight of a solid-fuel rocket carrying a satellite over the sea near Jeju Island, the defence ministry said, amid a growing space race with neighbouring North Korea. It was the third successful test of the rocket's technology after two others in March and December 2022. The launch on Monday involved technology developed at the state-run Agency for Defense Development, and a booster and satellite produced by South Korea's Hanwha Systems (272210.KS), the ministry said in a statement. More (Source: Reuters - Dec 5)
TENSE 'I.S.S.' TRAILER TEASES ASTRONAUTS FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF THE SPACE STATION - What would happen onboard the International Space Station (ISS) if war broke out on Earth? That's the question posed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite's tense-looking sci-fi I.S.S., which sees U.S. astronauts suddenly pitted against their Russian colleagues when they receive orders from the ground to take control "by any means necessary". More (Source: Marshable - Dec 5)
COSMONAUTS DOCK RUSSIAN PROGRESS CARGO SHIP TO ISS ON REMOTE CONTROL AFTER AUTOPILOT GLITCH - Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took manual control of an incoming cargo ship carrying tons of supplies after its automated rendezvous system suffered a glitch. The unpiloted cargo ship, called Progress 86, docked to the station's Russian-built Poisk module under remote control by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who tracked its approach from inside the ISS. Kononenko took control of the cargo ship remotely using a system called TORU, while the Progress 86 craft was flying around the station at a range of about 150 meters, apparently due to an issue with the cargo ship's own Kurs automated rendezvous system. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 4)
LIFT-OFF FOR EIRSAT-1, IRELAND’S FIRST EVER SATELLITE - EIRSAT-1 was designed, built, and tested by students from University College Dublin (UCD) participating in ESA Academy’s Fly Your Satellite! program, a hands-on initiative supporting university student teams to develop their own satellites according to professional standards. The launch opportunity itself was provided by ESA. More (Source: SatNews - Dec 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL ON STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 UTC). Overcoming weather hurdles, the Starlink 6-31 mission marked SpaceX’s second launch in less than 40 hours. U.S. Space Force meteorologists had been concerned about the potential for rocket-trigger lightning from thick cloud layers and cumulus clouds. They also listed a low to moderate risk of upper level wind shear posing a threat. But in the end the Falcon 9 faced only a thin layer of cloud cover in the sky over Cape Canaveral. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 4)
RUSSIA LAUNCHES SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP - A Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with more than 5,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, kicking off a two-day orbital chase. Perched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, the Progress MS-25/86P spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:25 a.m. EST (2:25 p.m. local time) and slipped into the planned preliminary orbit eight minutes and 45 seconds later. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 3)
CHINA RELEASES 1ST IMAGES OF COMPLETE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - The crew of China's Shenzhou 16 mission captured incredible images of the Tiangong Space Station as they departed on their way back to Earth. The pictures, taken with a high-definition camera, represent the first time the full structure of the Tiangong space station has been fully imaged since it arrived in orbit. Prior to disembarking, the Shenzhou 16 team handed control of the space station over to the Shenzhou 17 crew, who arrived at Tiangong on Oct. 26. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 3)
SPACEX LAUNCHES RIDE SHARE MISSION WITH SOUTH KOREAN SPY SATELLITE, FIRST IRISH SATELLITE - Kicking off the month of December for SpaceX was a Falcon 9 ride share mission with a payload of 25 spacecraft on board. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was headlined by the Korea 425 mission. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 10:19 a.m. PST (1:19 EST, 1819 UTC). The launch is set to be the first of two missions SpaceX plans to launch over the weekend. The company aims to launch another batch of 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the early hours of Saturday morning. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 2)
AMAZON BUYS SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES FOR KUIPER SATELLITE INTERNET PROJECT - Amazon bought three rocket launches from SpaceX for its Project Kuiper internet satellites, the tech giant announced on Friday. The move is a surprise from Amazon, given the company’s Kuiper system aims to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in the satellite broadband market. Both Starlink and Kuiper represent multibillion-dollar efforts to create networks with thousands of satellites in orbit to serve customers ranging from consumers to governments. More (Source: CNBC - Dec 2)
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