NORTH KOREA IS FUELING ROCKET, U.S. MILITARY SAYS - North Korea has begun fueling its long-range rocket, according to a senior U.S. military official. The fueling signals that the country could be in the final stages of what North Korea has said will be the launch of a satellite into space as early as this weekend, the senior U.S. military official said Wednesday. Other U.S. military officials said the top portion of the rocket was put on very recently, but satellite imagery shows a shroud over the stage preventing a direct view of what it looks like. More (Source: CNN - Apr 2)
ATLAS V/WGS-2 LAUNCH SET FOR APRIL 3 - The U.S. Air Force will launch the second Wideband Global Communications satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 here April 3. The launch window extends from 8:31 to 9:33 p.m. EDT. This will be the second attempt to launch the Atlas V. The launch team detected an anomalous leak rate in the Centaur upper stage oxidizer valve during a March 17 launch attempt. More (Source: Space Daily - Apr 2)
NORTH KOREA LAUNCH UNDERSCORES DEMAND FOR SPACE DATA - U.S. officials, poised to closely monitor North Korea's planned launch of a communications satellite, this week underscored the need for improved data about what is going on in space. Military officials said the United States needed to beef up its "space situational awareness," or ability to monitor satellites and debris floating around in space, but they gave few details on any spending plans. More (Source: Reuters - Apr 2)
SPACEX PREPS SATELLITE LAUNCH - Hawthorne-based SpaceX, the rocket technology firm headed by Paypal founder Elon Musk, reported Monday that it is prepping a launch of a Malaysian satellite built by Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (ATSB) next month. SpaceX said that the launch will use its Falcon 1 rocket, and that its launch window is currently scheduled to open on Monday, April 20th at 4pm. According to SpaceX, ATSB's RazakSAT satellite is intended to provide high resolution images of Malaysia for land management, conservation, and other uses. More (Source: socalTech.com - Mar 31)
U.S. MILITARY VOWS TO TRACK 800 SATELLITES BY OCTOBER 1 - Spurred by last month's collision of two satellites high above the Earth, the U.S. military plans to begin tracking all 800 maneuverable spacecraft currently operating in space by October 1, a senior U.S. Air Force official said on Monday. U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command will work together to expand the number of satellites being tracked from about 300 currently, Air Force Colonel Dusty Tyson, chief of the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, told reporters at a space conference in Colorado Springs. More (Source: Reuters - Mar 31)
MYSTERIOUS EAST COAST BOOM WAS FALLING RUSSIAN ROCKET - The mysterious boom and flash of light seen over parts of Virginia Sunday night was not a meteor, but actually exploding space junk from the second stage of a Russian Soyuz rocket falling back to Earth, according to an official with the U.S. Naval Observatory. "I'm pretty convinced that what these folks saw was the second stage of the Soyuz rocket that launched the crew up to the space station," said Geoff Chester of the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 30)
SPACE SHUTTLE LANDS IN FLORIDA - The shuttle Discovery glided to a hazy Florida landing on Saturday, leaving the International Space Station behind in orbit with a complete set of solar arrays and a repaired water recycling system. Running one orbit late because of high winds and low clouds, the shuttle commander, Col. Lee J. Archambault of the Air Force, and the pilot, Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli of the Navy, guided Discovery to a smooth touchdown here at 3:13 p.m., ending a 13-day mission with three spacewalks. “Welcome home, Discovery, after a great mission to bring the International Space Station to full power,” an astronaut, George Zamka, radioed from mission control in Houston. More (Source: New York Times - Mar 30)
ASTRONAUTS CLOSE SPACE SHUTTLE'S DOORS FOR LANDING - The shuttle Discovery crew closed their ship's doors for landing on Saturday, hoping to beat out an encroaching cold front at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Touchdown was scheduled for 1:39 p.m. EDT, with a backup opportunity at 3:14 p.m EDT. Flight directors hope to have the shuttle back on the ground before a layer of clouds moving toward the seaside spaceport thickens. "It's going to be a matter of timing," said mission commentator Kyle Herring. More (Source: Reuters - Mar 28)
FINAL IN-ORBIT SHUTTLE INSPECTION COMPLETE - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery prepared for the trip back to Earth with a final inspection of the vehicle Thursday, and a first look at the results revealed no significant damage to the craft's protective heat shield. Mission managers will decide whether it's safe for Discovery to land Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida once engineers finish studying the results of the five-hour, routine survey. They said Thursday afternoon they hadn't detected any areas of concern so far. More (Source: Associated Press - Mar 27)
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