A STARLINK SATELLITE SEEMS TO HAVE EXPLODED - SpaceX says it has lost control of a Starlink satellite that’s now falling back to Earth after suffering an anomaly. The sudden loss of communications, drop in altitude, “venting of the propulsion tank,” and “release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects,” suggests the anomaly was some kind of explosion. SpaceX says it poses no threat to the crew of the ISS and will burn up in the atmosphere “within weeks.” This mishap comes a week after SpaceX reported a near miss with a Chinese satellite. More (Source: The Verge - Dec 20)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 4 EXPERIMENTAL 'DISKSATS' FOR THE US MILITARY - Rocket Lab launched a new type of satellite for the U.S. Space Force early Thursday morning (Dec. 18). An Electron rocket carrying four "DiskSats" lifted off from Rocket Lab's pad on Wallops Island, Virginia on Thursday at 12:03 a.m. EST (0503 GMT). The launch, which Rocket Lab called "Don't Be Such a Square," kicked off the Space Test Program (STP)-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 19)
EUROPE'S ARIANE 6 ROCKET LAUNCHES ITS 1ST PAIR OF GALILEO NAVIGATION SATELLITES - Europe's towering Ariane 6 rocket is gaining momentum in the heavy-lift launch market. The first pair of Galileo navigation satellites to launch on an Ariane 6 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Wednesday (Dec. 17) at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT; 2:01 a.m. local time in Kourou). Galileo Launch 14 (L14) is sending the spacecraft pair to join 26 other active satellites in the constellation, which is Europe's equivalent to the Global Positioning System (GPS) used by the United States More (Source: Space.com - Dec 18)
'CRASH CLOCK' WARNS EARTH ORBIT IS NEARING DISASTER AS MEGACONSTELLATIONS PUSH SPACE TRAFFIC TO BRINK - Earth’s orbital overcrowding is approaching a breaking point, according to a new analysis using a warning metric called the Crash Clock. The study authors examined the rapidly increasing density of satellites in low-Earth orbit, revealing that a catastrophic collision could unfold in as little as 2.8 days if satellite operators suddenly lost the ability to maneuver. The findings underscore growing concerns about space sustainability, space weather risks and the long-term reliability of GPS and communications networks. More (Source: AccuWeather - Dec 18)
RUSSIA SAYS DAMAGED LAUNCH PAD CRUCIAL TO ITS SPACE PROGRAMME WILL BE FIXED BY FEBRUARY - Russia's space agency said on Tuesday that work was underway to repair a damaged launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan that underpins its space programme and that the facility should be back in use by February of next year. The pad was badly damaged in November when a Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut on board blasted off. More (Source: CNA - Dec 17)
ULA ATLAS 5 LAUNCH PUTS AMAZON’S 180TH BROADBAND SATELLITE IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - United Launch Alliance aced its final launch of 2025, a predawn flight of an Atlas 5 rocket carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s recently re-branded Leo broadband internet service. The on time liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 3:28 a.m. EST (0828 UTC), as the RD-180 engine on the booster roared to lift alongside five solid rocket boosters. The rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad. The mission, referred to by ULA as Amazon Leo 4 and dubbed Leo Atlas 4 (LA-04) by Amazon, was ULA’s fourth launch for the venture, previously known as Project Kuiper. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 17)
SURPRISE! 2 PRIVATE SPACECRAFT RENDEZVOUS IN ORBIT ON NEWLY REVEALED 'REMORA' MISSION - Two commercial spacecraft pulled off a surprise rendezvous in Earth orbit recently, showcasing skills that could pave the way for satellite servicing missions down the road. The milestone came on a mission called Remora, a newly revealed collaboration between the companies Starfish Space and Impulse Space. One of Impulse Space's dishwasher-sized Mira orbital transfer vehicles used Starfish software to get within a mere 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) of another Mira, in a key demonstration of autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) tech. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 16)
ROCKETLAB SENDS JAPANESE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - Rocket Lab has successfully launched an Electron technology demonstration satellite for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The Saturday mission was the 77th Electron launch, and deployed JAXA's Rapid Innovation Payload Demonstration Satellite 4, known as RAISE 4, into a low-Earth orbit, 325 miles above the ground, about 55 minutes after liftoff. More (Source: UPI - Dec 15)
THE 10 MOST EXPENSIVE SATELLITES CURRENTLY IN ORBIT - Satellites are perhaps the most wondrous piece of technology mankind has invented. The idea of creating an artificial device and launching it into space to orbit our planet is simply amazing. It is also rather expensive. Much of that cost is due to the logistics of the rocket launch itself. It takes a lot of energy to escape Earth's gravitational pull, which translates into thousands of tons of expensive fuel per launch. The spacecraft itself is also usually lost, though recent advancements are trying to change that. Then there is the massive cost of creating the satellite itself, which is packed with delicate instruments and must survive in outer space without any possibility of routine maintenance or repairs. More (Source: BGR - Dec 15)
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