SHUTTING DOWN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: NASA'S BOLD PLANS TO LAND OUTPOST IN OCEAN - The International Space Station has been continuously occupied by spacefarers from countries around the world for the last two decades, but it's time among the cosmos won't last forever. Even now, NASA is laying the groundwork for plans to safely deorbit and land the low-Earth orbit space station, the largest of its kind ever built. Private companies have until Feb. 12 to submit design proposals for "a new or modified spacecraft using a large amount of propellant" that in the years ahead, will be tasked with docking with the space station and safely crashing it into an ocean.   More
(Source: USA Today - Jan 17)

SDA TO ACQUIRE SATELLITES WITH CUSTOM PAYLOADS TO ENABLE FASTER TARGETING ON BATTLEFIELDS - The Space Development Agency is gearing up for its next procurement of satellites for a military communications network known as the Transport Layer Tranche 2. SDA, an agency under the U.S. Space Force, plans to acquire 20 satellites carrying a new type of payload to transmit targeting information. SDA documents describe the payload, dubbed Warlock, as a communications node “specifically designed to close future kill chains.”    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 16)

STARLINK CLOSE ENCOUNTERS DECREASE DESPITE EVER-GROWING NUMBER OF SATELLITES - SpaceX has reported that the number of close encounters between its satellites and other orbital objects has not increased in the past six months despite the constellation's growth. Space sustainability experts say the development is good news but warn the decrease in avoidance maneuvers is likely just a deviation from what has been a longer-term upward trend.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 16)

MEET THE 4 ASTRONAUTS OF SPACEX'S AX-3 LAUNCH FOR AXIOM SPACE - Houston-based Axiom Space is poised for the company's third private astronaut launch to space. Ax-3 will carry a four-person, all-European crew on a roughly two-week mission to conduct research aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The quartet includes Ax-3 mission commander and former NASA astronaut Michael "LA" López-Alegría, mission specialist Walter Villadei, who also flew aboard Virgin Galactic's Galactic 01 suborbital spaceflight as VIRTUTE 1 mission commander last summer, Turkey's soon-to-be first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut reserve member Marcus Wandt.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 16)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 LAUNCH FOLLOWING SATURDAY NIGHT SCRUB - The second time will be the charm for SpaceX as it was able to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Sunday evening among the clouds. It launched at 8:52 p.m. EST (0152 UTC) on Sunday, Jan. 14, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station following a Saturday night scrub. The company was launching at a rate of about every four days or so from the Cape towards the end of 2023. However, the launch cadence on the East Coast has slowed somewhat with one of the two Florida-based droneships, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ still on the sidelines after it was damaged during a booster recovery in late December.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON WEST COAST FALCON 9 FLIGHT - SpaceX was finally able to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from California early Sunday morning after a delay caused by high upper-level winds. The launch, carrying 22 Starlink satellites, will add to the more than 5,300 satellites already in orbit. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 12:59 a.m. PST (3:59 a.m. EST, 0859 UTC). The launch has already been delayed multiple times, as delay from Thursday was also due to poor weather, according to SpaceX.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)

SPACEX SCRUBS LAUNCH FALCON 9 ROCKET ON STARLINK MISSION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX stood down from its Saturday night Starlink launch attempt. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites is now targeting liftoff at 7:27 p.m. EST (0027 UTC) on Sunday, Jan. 14, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company was launching at a rate of about every four days or so from the Cape towards the end of 2023. However, the launch cadence on the East Coast has slowed somewhat with one of the two Florida-based droneships, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ still on the sidelines after it was damaged during a booster recovery in late December.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)

TIANZHOU-6 CARGO SPACECRAFT SEPARATES FROM CHINA SPACE STATION - China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-6 separated from the orbiting station combination at 4:02 p.m. Beijing Time on Friday and switched to independent flight, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMS). The spacecraft will re-enter the atmosphere as most of the components will be burned up and few remains will fall into a designated safe zone in the southern Pacific Ocean.   More
(Source: CGTN - Jan 13)

JAPAN'S 1ST LAUNCH OF 2024 SENDS SPY SATELLITE TO ORBIT - Japan's first launch of 2024 is in the books. An H-2A rocket topped with a reconnaissance satellite called IGS Optical 8 lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 11:44 p.m. EST (0444 GMT and 1:44 p.m. local Japan time on Jan. 12). Everything went smoothly, according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built and operates the H-2A.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 13)

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