'FULLY UNLOCKING THE ORBITAL ECONOMY': THIS CALIFORNIA COMPANY WILL FLY ASTRONAUTS TO THE SPACE STATION IN 2027 - A California startup will operate its first astronaut mission next year, if all goes according to plan. NASA announced on Thursday (Feb. 12) that it has picked Long Beach-based Vast to conduct the sixth private astronaut flight to the International Space Station (ISS), which will launch no earlier than summer 2027. The selection is a big deal for Vast and for NASA, which wants private companies to take the reins from the ISS when it's decommissioned in 2030. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 17)
DOUBLE DELIVERY: SPACEX SENDS STARLINK SATELLITES INTO ORBIT ON LAUNCHES FROM CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA - paceX added a 53 satellites to its Starlink megaconstellation over the course of two launches in as many days. First up was a Valentine's Day (Saturday, Feb. 14) liftoff of 24 satellites (Group 17-13) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.. The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 8:59 p.m. EST (0159 GMT on Feb. 15 or 5:59 p.m. PDT local time). Then early Monday morning (Feb. 16), another Falcon 9 with 29 Starlink units (Group 6-103) took off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. That liftoff occurred at 2:59 a.m. EST (0759 GMT). More (Source: Space.com - Feb 17)
REPLACEMENT CREW DOCKS AT SPACE STATION, BOOSTS CREW BACK TO SEVEN - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule glided in for a Valentine’s Day docking at the International Space Station Saturday boosting the lab’s crew back to a full complement of seven one month after four other fliers came home early because of a medical issue. The Crew Dragon docked at the space-facing port of the lab’s forward Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. EST, 34 hours after launch Friday from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 16)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 600TH FALCON 9 ROCKET TO DATE WITH STARLINK FLIGHT FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX continued its busy weekend with the launch of its 600th Falcon 9 rocket to date. The milestone mission comes hours after its Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station as part of its 20th human spaceflight mission. The Starlink 17-13 mission launched Saturday evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It sent 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 15)
SPACEX DRAGON ASTRONAUTS MAKE VALENTINE'S DAY DOCKING AT SPACE STATION TO BOOST SKELETON CREW - The residents of the International Space Station received a special Valentine's Day treat. SpaceX's Crew-12 astronaut mission docked with the short-staffed International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday (Feb. 14) at 3:15 p.m. EST (2015 GMT), ending a 34-hour orbital chase. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 14)
EUROPE'S MOST POWERFUL ROCKET LAUNCHES FOR 1ST TIME, CARRYING 32 AMAZON INTERNET SATELLITES TO ORBIT - Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket just notched another milestone. The most powerful version of the Ariane 6 — known as the 64, because it sports four strap-on solid rocket boosters — lifted off for the first time ever today (Feb. 12). The Ariane 64 launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT; 1:45 p.m. local time in Kourou), carrying 32 satellites aloft for the Amazon Leo broadband constellation. All of the spacecraft were deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) by one hour and 54 minutes after liftoff as planned, according to Arianespace, the France-based company that operates the Ariane 6. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 14)
SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS CONTINUE TO GROW. COULD THEIR DEBRIS FALL ON US? - As more and more satellite megaconstellations continue to be launched into Earth orbit, some researchers are beginning to calculate the chances that people on the surface could be struck by the incoming remnants of these spacecraft reentering the atmosphere. A new study by a team of Canadian researchers looks into eleven different megaconstellations and what would happen during their fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. What are the charred, declarative results? They find that there's a 40% collective risk of on-ground casualties if satellites do not burn up entirely. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 14)
SPACEX LAUNCHES CREW-12 ASTRONAUTS TO SHORT-STAFFED INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. 'WE HAVE LEFT THE EARTH, BUT THE EARTH HAS NOT LEFT US.' - A quartet of astronauts have reached orbit and are on their way to support the skeleton crew of three left behind after the first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX launched the Crew-12 mission this morning here from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending four astronauts to the ISS for an eight-month stay. The Crew Dragon "Freedom" lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at 5:15 a.m. EST (1015 GMT) this morning (Feb. 13), carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev into low Earth orbit. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 13)
VULCAN SUFFERS SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER PROBLEM DURING USSF-87 LAUNCH - United Launch Alliance said an issue affected one of the four solid rocket boosters that helped propel its Vulcan rocket into space Thursday on a mission for the United States Space Force. Despite the problem the rocket, making only its fourth flight, continued on its planned trajectory, the company said. The 202-foot-tall (61.6 m) rocket thundered away from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:22 a.m. EST (0922 UTC) but less than 30 seconds into the flight, there appeared to be a burn through of one of the nozzles on a Northrop Grumman-built graphite epoxy motor (GEM) 63XL solid rocket boosters (SRBs). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 13)
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