VEGA-C ROCKET LAUNCHES EUROPEAN FOREST-MONITORING 'BIOMASS' SATELLITE TO ORBIT - A European forest-monitoring satellite headed toward orbit from South America early Tuesday morning (April 29). The European Space Agency's (ESA) Biomass spacecraft lifted off atop a Vega-C rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday at 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT; 6:15 a.m. local time in Korea). Arianespace's stream began at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT), and the launch can now be watched on demand. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 30)
CHINA LAUNCHES THIRD BATCH OF GUOWANG MEGACONSTELLATION SATELLITES - China launched a third batch of Guowang megaconstellation satellites Tuesday, advancing its ambitious low Earth orbit communications network to rival Starlink and other global systems. A Long March 5B heavy lift rocket with a Yuanzheng-2 upper stage lifted off at 4:10 p.m. Eastern (2010 UTC) April 28 from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island, southern China, with the rocket climbing above heavy fog at the spaceport. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 30)
VETERAN NASA ASTRONAUT SAYS ISS CAN OPERATE PAST 2030 - A veteran NASA astronaut just back from the International Space Station believes the orbiting facility can operate well past its planned 2030 retirement date — and he wouldn’t mind another trip there. Don Pettit returned to Earth April 19 (U.S. time) on a Soyuz spacecraft, completing his third long-duration expedition to the station. He spent 220 days in space on this flight and has logged 590 days in orbit in his career, behind only Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams among American astronauts. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 30)
CHINA'S SHENZHOU 20 ASTRONAUTS TAKE CONTROL OF TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China's outgoing Shenzhou 19 crew have handed over the reins of the Tiangong space station to a new set of astronauts. The Shenzhou 20 mission launched on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China on April 24. The spacecraft arrived at the Tiangong space station 6.5 hours later, completing its rendezvous and docking at 11:49 a.m. EDT (1549 GMT, 11:49 p.m. Beijing time). More (Source: Space.com - Apr 30)
NEW SATELLITE WILL SEE THROUGH CLOUDS TO 'WEIGH' EARTH'S FORESTS - A first-of-its-kind satellite due to launch on Tuesday will be able to see through clouds and leafy canopies to assess how they are protecting the planet from climate change. The Biomass satellite, from the European Space Agency, will "weigh" the Earth's forests, revealing how much planet-warming carbon is being stored within trees and therefore kept out of the atmosphere. More (Source: BBC - Apr 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON 50TH FALCON 9 ROCKET OF 2025 - SpaceX completed its second Falcon 9 rocket launch in less than half a day. The Starlink 12-10 mission took flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center about six hours after another Starlink flight took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC). This was SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 launch of the year. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK LAUNCH FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard on Monday afternoon, following a one-day delay. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened Monday, April 28 at 1:42 p.m. PDT (4:42 p.m. EDT, 2042 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
ULA LAUNCHES FIRST PRODUCTION AMAZON KUIPER SATELLITES ON ATLAS 5 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - Against the setting Sun, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket thundered off the pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force State to begin the flight of the first production satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite internet constellation. Five solid rocket boosters helped propel the rocket and the 27 satellites on board from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at 7:01 p.m. EDT (2301 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
AMAZON TO LAUNCH 1ST SATELLITES INTO ORBIT: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PROJECT KUIPER - Amazon is preparing to launch its debut batch of satellites into orbit as it seeks to establish its own internet service for customers worldwide. Project Kuiper, a subsidiary of billionaire Jeff Bezos' online commerce behemoth, is meant to one day rival the satellite constellation that SpaceX founder Elon Musk's Starlink has been building in orbit for years. More (Source: USA Today - Apr 28)
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