SPACEX ACES FINAL MAJOR TEST BEFORE FIRST CREW MISSION - SpaceX performed a dramatic high-altitude test flight Sunday of the company’s Crew Dragon capsule over Florida’s Space Coast, testing the human-rated ship’s ability to escape a rocket failure and save its crew before two NASA astronauts strap in for a flight to the International Space Station as soon as this spring. The unusual test flight included an intentional failure of the Crew Dragon’s Falcon 9 rocket about a minute-and-a-half after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 20)
EUTELSAT CONFIRMS SOLAR RAY LOST ON EUTELSAT 5 WEST B - After an investigation into a malfunction on one of EUTELSAT 5 West B satellite’s solar rays, Eutelsat confirmed Friday that the satellite’s South solar array has been lost. The attendant power loss means only 45% of the capacity of the satellite can be operated. With the exception of the South solar array, the satellite performance remains nominal. More (Source: Via Satellite - Jan 19)
EUTELSAT KONNECT SATELLITE NOW IN ORBIT - Eutelsat Konnect telecommunications satellite has been successfully launched by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Center. Eutelsat Konnect was built by Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), acting as prime contractor for Eutelsat Communications. From geostationary orbit, this satellite will provide large-scale coverage of highspeed internet markets across Africa and Europe. More (Source: SatelliteProME.com - Jan 19)
SPACEX DELAYS CREW DRAGON ABORT TEST LAUNCH TO SUNDAY DUE TO BAD WEATHER - SpaceX postponed a critical launch escape test of its Crew Dragon astronaut taxi today (Jan. 18) due to bad weather at the mission’s launch site. The next attempt will be on Sunday, the company said. The California-based spaceflight company was scheduled to launch its unpiloted Crew Dragon spacecraft on a used Falcon 9 rocket at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) today from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, bad weather at the launch site, coupled with rough seas at Crew Dragon's recovery zone in the Atlantic Ocean, prompted the delay. More (Source: Space.com - Jan 18)
FIRST SPACEBUS NEO SATELLITE LAUNCHED - Ariane 5's first launch of 2020 has delivered two telecom satellites, Konnect and GSAT-30, into their planned transfer orbits. Arianespace announced liftoff at 21:05 GMT (22:05 CET, 18:05 local time) this evening from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Konnect, with a launch mass of 3619 kg, was the first to be released after about 27 minutes. More (Source: Space Daily - Jan 18)
HOW TO WATCH SPACEX'S CREW DRAGON ABORT TEST LIVE ONLINE THIS SATURDAY - SpaceX will launch its Crew Dragon spacecraft on a critical abort test Saturday morning (Jan. 18), and you can watch it live online. The private spaceflight company will use an expendable Falcon 9 rocket to launch the uncrewed spacecraft from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT). If the test flight, known as an in-flight abort, is successful, it will prove that the Crew Dragon has what it takes to keep onboard astronauts safe in the event of an emergency during launch. More (Source: Space.com - Jan 18)
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF DRAMATIC CREW DRAGON IN-FLIGHT ABORT TEST - SpaceX’s final planned Crew Dragon test flight before astronauts ride the commercial spaceship into orbit is scheduled for Saturday, when an unpiloted crew capsule will fire off the top of a Falcon 9 rocket shortly after launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to test the craft’s in-flight emergency escape capability. This video illustrates the timeline of the in-flight abort test, which is scheduled to begin during a four-hour window opening at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) Saturday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 18)
JAPAN TO LAUNCH ELECTRO-OPTICAL IGS RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE IN JANUARY 2020 - Japanese satellite and space industry giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has announced that an MHI H-IIA satellite launch vehicle will send Japan’s eighth Intelligence Gathering System (IGS) reconnaissance satellite into orbit from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwest Japan, on 27 January 2020. The IGS satellite will carry an electro-optical camera and will join seven other IGS satellites already in orbit. More (Source: SpaceWatch.Global - Jan 17)
ARIANESPACE LAUNCHES EUTELSAT, ISRO SATELLITES ON FIRST 2020 MISSION - European launch provider Arianespace completed its first launch of the year Jan. 16, sending two communications satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center at 4:05 p.m. Eastern with the 3,600-kilogram Eutelsat Konnect satellite and the 3,400-kilogram GSAT-30 satellite. Eutelsat Konnect separated from the rocket’s upper stage about 28 minutes later, followed by the Indian space agency ISRO’s GSAT-30 satellite after another 10 minutes. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jan 17)
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