CREW 11 SAFELY SPLASHES DOWN AFTER SHORTENED MISSION - Four space station crewmates undocked and plunged back to Earth Thursday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast six days after NASA ordered them home early because of a medical issue. Descending under four large parachutes, Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, co-pilot Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific near San Diego at 3:41 a.m. EST, closing out a 167-day stay in space More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 16)
SPACEX BREAKS PAD TURNAROUND RECORD AT CAPE CANAVERAL WITH MIDDAY STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX’s launch of its Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday afternoon broke the turnaround record at its launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by more than five hours. The Starlink 6-98 mission lifted off at 1:08 p.m. EST (1808 UTC), just 45 hours after the launch of the Starlink 6-97 mission at 4:08 p.m. EST (2108 UTC) on Monday. The previous record, set in December 2025, was 50 hours and 44 between the launches of NROL-77 and Starlink 6-90. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 16)
NASA ASTRONAUTS BEGIN 'BITTERSWEET' MEDICAL EVACUATION FROM SPACE STATION - Four astronauts have left the International Space Station a month early, in the first medical evacuation since the station was put into Earth's orbit in 1998. The astronauts, known as Crew 11, are expected to splash down off the coast of California in the early hours of Thursday local time. Their journey was cut short because of medical issue involving one crew member, Nasa said. The agency did not provide details about the crew member or the nature of the medical issue, but said they were in stable condition. More (Source: BBC News - Jan 15)
SPACEX BREAKS PAD TURNAROUND RECORD AT CAPE CANAVERAL WITH MIDDAY STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX’s launch of its Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday afternoon broke the turnaround record at its launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by more than five hours. The Starlink 6-98 mission lifted off at 1:08 p.m. EST (1808 UTC), just 45 hours after the launch of the Starlink 6-97 mission at 4:08 p.m. EST (2108 UTC) on Monday. The previous record, set in December 2025, was 50 hours and 44 between the launches of NROL-77 and Starlink 6-90. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)
CHINA HAS APPLIED TO LAUNCH 200,000 SATELLITES, BUT WHAT ARE THEY FOR? - China has applied to launch nearly 200,000 satellites into Earth orbit, but the move may be an attempt at merely reserving orbital space rather than a genuine effort to build the largest mega-constellation in existence. More (Source: New Scientist - Jan 15)
ISS ASTRONAUT MEDICAL EVACUATION LATEST NEWS: CREW-11 ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SPACEX DRAGON DEPARTURE - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are officially "go" to return to Earth on Wednesday (Jan. 14). Mission managers gave the go-ahead for undocking today (Jan. 13), NASA officials announced in an update. NASA's Zena Cardman will command Crew-11's SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, while fellow agency astronaut Mike Fincke will serve as pilot. The other two crewmembers, Japan's Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, are mission specialists. More (Source: Space.com - Jan 14)
EUTELSAT ORDERS 340 ADDITIONAL SATELLITES TO REPLENISH ONEWEB CONSTELLATION - Eutelsat has ordered the remaining 340 satellites needed to replenish its OneWeb satellite constellation from Airbus Defence and Space. The companies announced Jan. 12 that Eutelsat will purchase 340 satellites for the OneWeb system, with deliveries beginning at the end of 2026. The order follows a December 2024 agreement in which Eutelsat contracted with Airbus for 100 satellites intended to replenish the existing OneWeb constellation. More (Source: Space News - Jan 14)
EUROPE GETS READY FOR A NEW POLAR SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - Europe is to get a new polar satellite constellation, EPS-Sterna, that could provide up to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) in economic value to Europe over the course of its lifetime. The first satellites from this key new European program will likely be deployed in 2029. The program secured near unanimous support during the 110th session of the Eumetsat Council. In total, 29 of Eumetsat’s 30 member states backed the program. Eumetsat announced these developments, Jan. 12. More (Source: Via Satellite - Jan 14)
U.S. SPACE FORCE SWITCHES ROCKETS FOR UPCOMING GPS SATELLITE LAUNCH - The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command System Delta 80 said Tuesday. SpaceX could launch the GPS III Space Vehicle 09 (SV09) within the next few weeks, as the satellite was entering the final stages of pre-flight preparations. As part of the swap, United Launch Alliance (ULA) will instead launch the third of the next generation of Global Positioning System satellites. The GPS III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) SV13 satellite was originally scheduled to launch on a Falcon Heavy, but will now fly on Vulcan. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)
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