CHINA LAUNCHES LATEST BEIDOU SATELLITE FOR GLOBAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM - A Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 2:09 p.m. Eastern Monday, sending a Beidou satellite toward an inclined geosynchronous orbit. The launch occurred within a window indicated by the issuance of an airspace closure notice days earlier. Spectator footage provided the first indication of liftoff, with mission success announced by a media arm of the People’s Liberation Army just over an hour after launch. The mission involved the 21st satellite of the Beidou-3 rollout and the second to be placed in an inclined geosynchronous orbit. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 25)
NEW SATELLITE SYSTEM AIMS TO IMPROVE HURRICANE FORECASTING - A system of new weather satellites is due to launch into space as early as late Monday night, and if all goes to plan, it should lead to even greater reliability when it comes to predicting hurricanes and other potentially deadly storms. COSMIC 2 (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) is a system of six satellites that’s part of a joint program between NOAA, the U.S. Air Force, and Taiwan. More (Source: WTOP - Jun 24)
NASA'S ASTROBEE CUBE ROBOT FLIES IN SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME - NASA's Astrobee cube robots are finally earning their space wings... in a manner of speaking. The agency has confirmed that one of the bots, Bumble, flew on its own for the first time aboard the International Space Station on June 14th. While the trip involved only basic movements like flying forward and rotating, it was proof machine could work in its intended microgravity environment. More (Source: Engadget - Jun 24)
NEXT ATLAS 5 LAUNCH DELAYED BY BATTERY FAILURE - The next launch of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite, previously scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed to no earlier than July 9 to replace a failed battery on the vehicle. In a statement Sunday, ULA said the launch was delayed “due to a vehicle battery failure discovered during final processing.” More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 24)
SPACEX IS ABOUT TO LAUNCH 152 DEAD PEOPLE'S REMAINS INTO ORBIT ABOARD A FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - SpaceX is gearing up for the third-ever launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket: the world's most powerful operational launch system. The mission, called Space Test Program-2 (STP-2), is slated to lift off between 11:30 p.m. ET on June 24 and 2:30 a.m. ET on June 25, weather permitting. The launch of cremated remains is facilitated by a company called Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, which purchases available room on spacecraft, installs a container, then packs it with small metal capsules filled with ashes. It refers to these as " participants." More (Source: Business Insider - Jun 24)
NASA ASTRONAUT ANNE MCCLAIN TO DEPART THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MONDAY AFTER 204-DAY MISSION - NASA astronaut Anne McClain and two crewmates on the International Space Station are scheduled to conclude their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory Monday, June 24. Live coverage of their return will begin at 3:30 p.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website. McClain, a flight engineer for Expedition 59, expedition and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, will close the hatch to their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft Monday afternoon and undock from the station. More (Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Jun 24)
TWO COMMERCIAL BROADCAST SATELLITES LAUNCHED ON ARIANE 5 ROCKET - A pair of television broadcast satellites for AT&T and Eutelsat rocketed into orbit Thursday evening, riding a European Ariane 5 launcher into space in a spectacular sunset launch from the Guiana Space Center on the northeastern coast South America. After a smooth 11-hour countdown, the Ariane 5’s Vulcain 2 main engine flashed to life at 2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT; 6:43 p.m. French Guiana time) Thursday, followed by ignition of the launcher’s twin solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to force the heavy-lift vehicle into the sky. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 22)
BOEING TO LAUNCH ASTRONAUTS TO THE INT'L SPACE STATION IN NEW CAPSULE - Boeing is expanding its business of travel Opens a New Window. beyond 30,000 feet. In a partnership with NASA, the airline company is working to help the agency get American astronauts destined for the International Space Station safely into the thermosphere with its new CST-100 Starliner - which is a capsule. Launchpad testing is expected to begin by August. More (Source: Fox Business - Jun 22)
CHINA’S MOON, MARS AND SPACE STATION MISSIONS MAY BE FACING DELAYS - China’s major space missions including a lunar sample return, Mars orbiter and rover and a modular space station could be facing delays due to an apparent issue affecting rockets required for launches. The Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket is China’s most powerful launch vehicle and was designed to launch large spacecraft to geosynchronous orbits and planetary bodies. It was being prepared for a third flight in July, Yang Baohua, vice president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China’s main space contractor and developer of the Long March 5, announced in a Jan. 29 news conference in Beijing. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 22)
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