SPACEX LAUNCHES 32ND RESUPPLY MISSION FOR NASA TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - SpaceX launched an uncrewed Cargo Dragon to the International Space Station early Monday on a resupply mission with increased importance after a transportation mishap derailed a flight by another U.S. cargo ship. Liftoff from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center happened on Monday, April 21, at 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 21)

CHINA LAUNCHES 6 CLASSIFIED EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITES WITH LONG MARCH 6A - China sent six experimental Shiyan series satellites into orbit late Friday Eastern, using its Long March 6A rocket launched from Taiyuan. The Long March 6A rocket lifted off at 6:51 p.m. Eastern (2251 UTC) April 18 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, northern China. The state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) announced launch success, revealing the payloads to be Shiyan-27 (01-06).   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 20)

STATION HAS NEW COMMANDER; SOYUZ TRIO READY FOR SATURDAY DEPARTURE - The International Space Station has a new commander as three Expedition 72 crew members get ready to return to Earth on Saturday. The orbital residents staying behind will soon welcome a U.S. cargo craft and get ready for their increment’s first spacewalk. Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) took control of the orbital outpost from Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin during a change of command ceremony on Friday afternoon.    More
(Source: NASA - Apr 20)

SPACEX LAUNCHES THIRD NRO MISSION IN EIGHT DAYS - America’s spy satellite agency, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), launched its third mission in eight days on Sunday, April 20. The mission featured another batch of satellites to support its proliferated architecture constellation in low Earth orbit. The satellites, believed to be Starshield satellites built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman, will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff of the NROL-145 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at for 5:29 a.m. PDT (8:29 a.m. EDT, 1229 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 20)

2 PRIVATE SATELLITES UNDOCK AFTER PIONEERING LIFE-EXTENSION MISSION - Two commercial satellites have completed an undocking maneuver high above Earth, signaling the successful end to a pioneering spacecraft life-extension mission. The Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1), developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Space Logistics LLC, docked with Intelsat’s IS-901 communications satellite in 2020 in a graveyard orbit, a few hundred miles above geosynchronous orbit (GEO), an orbital belt 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 19)

UPCOMING LAUNCH - CRS-32 MISSION - SpaceX is targeting Monday, April 21 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 32nd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-32) mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 4:15 a.m. ET, with a backup launch opportunity available on Tuesday, April 22 at 3:53 a.m. ET if needed.   More
(Source: SpaceX - Apr 19)

ITALY MOVES AHEAD WITH STUDY FOR 100-SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - The Italian government has approved Phase 2 of a feasibility study exploring the possibility of the country developing an 100-satellite constellation. While few details have been announced, initial reports indicate that the constellation will support communications and be designed for interoperability with other similar systems.   More
(Source: SatNews - Apr 18)

SATELLITES SHOW CHINESE MOVES AGAINST US ALLY - New satellite imagery has revealed for the first time a hulking steel rig in the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea that has inflamed tensions between the two nations. The photographs, supplied exclusively to Newsweek, ​show the latest of several large steel platforms that China has installed in the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ), a jointly managed stretch of the Yellow Sea, known in Korea as the West Sea, where the Chinese and South Korean exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap.   More
(Source: Newsweek - Apr 18)

“TRANSFORMATIONAL” SATELLITE WILL MONITOR EARTH’S SURFACE CHANGES - In a few weeks, Earth scientists will launch a satellite that will provide unprecedented, high-resolution coverage of some of the most remote and rapidly changing parts of the world. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, a joint mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will scan nearly the entire globe twice every 12 days to measure changes in Earth’s ecosystems, cryosphere, and land surface.   More
(Source: Eos.org - Apr 18)

Previous Next