NOAA'S OLDER EARTH-WATCHING SATELLITES GET NEW 'EXTENDED LIFE' - As many things have a shelf-life, so do satellites. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has plans to take their older polar-orbiting satellites off the path toward decommission, and instead use a cloud-based system to add some extra years to their lifespan. NOAA's next-generation Joint Polar Satellite Series (JPSS) are more of the new kids of the block, when it comes to polar orbiting satellites. They keep an eye on Earth's weather and climate change from what's known as a low Earth orbit, from about 520 miles (836 km) above us; for comparison, the International Space Station orbits at about 250 miles (400 km).   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 8)

CHINESE STARTUP GALACTIC ENERGY BOUNCES BACK WITH SUCCESSFUL SATELLITE LAUNCH - Chinese startup Galactic Energy is flying high again after a successful satellite launch on Monday (Dec. 4). The company's Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6:33 p.m. EST on Monday (2333 GMT; or 7:33 a.m. Beijing time on Dec. 5). The rocket rose into a dark, predawn sky above the Gobi Desert. Aboard were the Tianyan 16 and Starpool 1A satellites. Both were inserted into near-polar orbits with altitudes of roughly 310 miles (500 kilometers).   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 8)

NASA LEADERS TO HIGHLIGHT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPACE STATION WITH CREW - NASA is celebrating the 25th anniversary of International Space Station operations during a live conversation with crew aboard the microgravity laboratory for the benefit of humanity. During a space-to-Earth call at 12:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Expedition 70 crew will speak with NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana and Joel Montalbano, space station program manager. Watch on the NASA+ streaming service at no cost on demand. The discussion also will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.   More
(Source: NASA - Dec 7)

CHINA LAUNCHES INTERNET TECHNOLOGY TEST SATELLITE FROM SEA BARGE - China launched a new internet technology experiment satellite from a sea platform Tuesday, apparently continuing tests for a low Earth orbit megaconstellation. The Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) solid rocket lifted off from a mobile sea platform from waters off the coast of Yangjiang, Guangdong province, at 2:24 p.m. Eastern (1924 UTC) Dec. 5. Launch success was declared around two hours after liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 7)

SPACEX SENDS 23 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT ON 90TH FALCON LAUNCH OF 2023 - SpaceX hit another milestone with its overnight Starlink mission launch. The flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station marks the company’s 90th orbital launch in 2023 and its 280th Falcon 9 launch to date. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-33 mission took place at 12:07 p.m. EST (0507 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40. Weather for the mission was ideal at liftoff, but meteorologists kept their eye on the picture downrange as well. Liftoff winds were the only watch item in a forecast that predicts 95 percent favorable weather.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 7)

CAPELLA TO USE SPACEX FOR TWO ACADIA SATELLITE LAUNCHES - Capella Space will launch two radar imaging satellites on SpaceX rideshare missions after an Electron launch failure disrupted its deployment plans. Capella announced Dec. 5 that it had arranged to fly two of its Acadia satellites on SpaceX rideshare missions in the first half of 2024. Acadia-4 will fly on the Bandwagon-1 mission as soon as April 2024 while Acadia-5 will launch on Transporter-11 no earlier than June 2024. The Transporter-11 mission was arranged through launch services company Exolaunch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 7)

CHINA LAUNCHES EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE FOR SATELLITE INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES - China successfully sent a satellite for testing satellite internet technologies into space from a sea area near Yangjiang City, south China's Guangdong Province, on Wednesday. The satellite was launched by a Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) rocket at 3:24 a.m. Beijing Time and has entered the preset orbit.   More
(Source: CGTN - Dec 6)

CHINA'S COMMERCIAL CERES-1 Y9 ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITES - China on Tuesday launched the CERES-1 Y9 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, sending two new satellites into their planned orbits. The commercial rocket blasted off at 7:33 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site. The launch was the 11th flight mission using the CERES-1 rocket series.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 6)

INDIA RETURNS CHANDRAYAAN-3 PROPULSION MODULE TO EARTH ORBIT - The spacecraft that transported the Chandrayaan-3 lander to the moon has returned to Earth orbit, a demonstration of technologies to support a future Indian lunar sample return mission. The Indian space agency ISRO announced Dec. 4 that the propulsion module for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is now in a high orbit around the Earth after a series of maneuvers since October that returned the spacecraft from a low lunar orbit. ISRO had not previously disclosed any efforts to return the propulsion module to Earth orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 5)

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