SPACEX TEST FIRES ITS FALCON 9 ROCKET AHEAD OF MIDWEEK LAUNCH OF CREW-12 TO THE SPACE STATION - An early morning rocket engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station brings NASA and SpaceX one step closer to flying the next long duration mission to the International Space Station. At 3:16 a.m. EST (0816 UTC) on Sunday, Feb. 8, the nine Merlin 1D engines at the base of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket roared to life for about 10 seconds. This static fire test at Space Launch Complex 40 was designed to validate the systems on the launch vehicle before flight.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 9)

PLANNED LAUNCH OF 500,000 SATELLITES COULD BLIND THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE FOREVER, ACCORDING TO AN ALARMING STUDY - Simulations suggest that satellite streaks could spoil about one in three Hubble images, even when the telescope stays above Earth’s weather. A team of researchers modeled plans that could put about 560,000 satellites aloft by the 2030s. The work was led by Dr. Alejandro S. Borlaff at NASA’s Ames Research Center. His team studies how satellite light interferes with telescope observations and develops planning tools to safeguard limited observing time. “When you position a telescope in space, it’s usually a very pristine environment,” said Dr. Borlaff.   More
(Source: Earth.com - Feb 9)

SPACEX DRAGON ARRIVES FOR CREW-12 LAUNCH - With the recent medical evacuation of SpaceX's Crew-11 astronaut mission from the International Space Station, Crew-12 will be launching earlier than planned as the relief crew for the ISS. Crew-12 is comprised of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (commander) and Jack Hathaway (pilot) and mission specialists Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 8)

CHINA LAUNCHES REUSABLE SPACECRAFT FOR FOURTH TIME SINCE 2020 - China successfully launched into orbit a reusable experimental spacecraft aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported. The mission will carry out technological verification for reusable spacecraft, providing technical support for the peaceful use of space, Xinhua said, without disclosing how long the craft will remain in orbit.   More
(Source: Reuters - Feb 8)

SPACEX LAUNCHES RETURN TO FLIGHT FALCON 9 MISSION FOLLOWING BRIEF STAND DOWN - SpaceX returned its Falcon 9 rocket flight mission with a Saturday afternoon launch, following a brief stand down period lasting less than a week. The Starlink 17-33 mission adds 25 Starlink satellites to the company’s megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. There a more than 9,600 satellites currently in orbit, according to stats maintained by astronomer and expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 8)

A WHOLE BUNCH OF SATELLITES COULD CRASH OUT OF ORBIT IN JUST 5 DAYS - With more and more internet satellites launching every year, scientists are growing increasingly concerned about the rising risk of collisions. The CRASH Clock is a new predictor of how much time there will be before a collision if a solar storm knocks out power and makes satellites impossible to maneuver.   More
(Source: Popular Mechanics - Feb 7)

CHINA JOINS RACE TO DEVELOP SPACE-BASED DATA CENTERS WITH 5-YEAR PLAN - It looks like China is getting in on the race to launch data centers into space. The state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Thursday (Jan. 29) that the main Chinese space company, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), will work on space-based data centers as a part of a larger five-year plan to expand the nation's already significant presence in space.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 6)

A POTENTIAL STARLINK COMPETITOR JUST GOT FCC CLEARANCE TO LAUNCH 4,000 SATELLITES - Aspiring Starlink competitor Logos Space Services has secured FCC clearance to launch more than 4,000 broadband satellites into low Earth orbit by 2035, as reported by Space News. Under FCC regulations, the company must deploy half of the approved amount within the next seven years. The company is headed by its founder, Milo Medin, a former project manager at NASA as well as a former vice president of wireless services at Google. The company has been raising money since it opened its doors in 2023 and reportedly hopes to deploy its first satellite by 2027.   More
(Source: Engadget - Feb 6)

NASA SELECTS TWO EARTH SYSTEM EXPLORERS MISSIONS - Two next-generation satellite missions announced Thursday will help NASA better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters. These two missions were selected for continued development as part of NASA’s Earth System Explorers Program, which conducts principal investigator-led Earth science missions based on key priorities laid out by the science community and national needs. The program is designed to enable high-quality Earth system science investigations to focus on previously identified key targeted observables.   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 6)

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