SPACEX LAUNCHES SUNRISE STARLINK MISSION FOLLOWING WEATHER SCRUB - The second time proved to be the charm as SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday morning. It came about 24 hours after a scrub on Wednesday due to poor weather that proved insurmountable. The Starlink 10-43 mission will add 29 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. It consists of more than 10,000 spacecraft. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at Thursday, June 4, 6:26:30 a.m. EDT (1026:30 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 5)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 24 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX is set to launch a batch of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday morning. The Starlink 17-47 mission added another 24 broadband internet to its low Earth orbit constellation. There are currently more than 10,000 satellites in orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 8:40:39 a.m. PDT (11:40:39 a.m. EDT / 1540:39 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket will fly on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 5)
FRENCH ASTRONAUT TO FLY TO COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION UNDER DEAL - Two French astronauts are to blast into space next year, one of whom will stay on board the world's first commercial space station, under a new deal sealed between France and the U.S. company Vast. "This confirms France's space ambitions," President Emmanuel Macron said on X late Monday after announcing the deal on the sidelines of a Paris conference. More (Source: Phys.org - Jun 4)
FOR SATELLITES AS SMALL AS A BRIEFCASE, GETTING AROUND IN SPACE JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT EASIER - MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand. More (Source: Phys.org - Jun 3)
CHINA LAUNCHES TEST DIRECT-TO-DEVICE SATELLITES FOR MULTIPLE PROJECTS - China capped a busy month of launches by sending four new satellite internet test satellites into orbit with a workhorse hypergolic rocket. The Long March 2D lifted off at 2:07 p.m. Eastern May 30 (1807 UTC) from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. Orange exhaust briefly illuminated the launch infrastructure before the hypergolic-propellant rocket climbed into the night sky. CASC Commercial Rocket Co., state-owned CASC’s domestic commercial launch services arm, declared the launch successful, delivering four satellites to orbit. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 2)
ROCKET GOES BOOM, SATELLITE CAMERAS ZOOM: EXPLOSIVE BLUE ORIGIN DAMAGE IS VISIBLE FROM SPACE - The dust has settled in the aftermath of last week's giant New Glenn rocket explosion, which shook Florida's Space Coast and the space industry itself. Blue Origin was conducting a fueling test on May 28, ahead of New Glenn's fourth mission, when a yet unknown event led to the total destruction of the vehicle and significant damage to the ground infrastructure at Launch Complex-36 (LC-36). No one was hurt in the incident, but the loss dealt a serious blow to Blue Origin's ability to meet NASA's timeline to support the Artemis missions to return astronauts to the moon, and further stalls the growth of the Amazon Leo wireless internet constellation meant to compete against SpaceX's Starlink satellite network. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 2)
BLUE ORIGIN FACES MONTHS OF DELAYS AFTER ROCKET EXPLOSION DAMAGES LAUNCH PAD - Blue Origin faces a months-long setback after the explosion of a rocket damaged its launch pad, company and industry sources said, scrambling schedules for Amazon satellite launches and bolstering SpaceX's dominance in the commercial launch market. The mishap, which occurred during a test fire of the engines for the New Glenn rocket's launch next week, comes at a critical time for Jeff Bezos' business empire. His companies Blue Origin and Amazon are seeking to establish themselves as viable challengers in the heavy-lift and global satellite internet network industries, competing with Elon Musk's SpaceX. More (Source: Reuters - Jun 1)
CHINA'S SHENZHOU 21 ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH AFTER BEING BRIEFLY 'STRANDED', WRAPPING UP RECORD-BREAKING MISSION - China's record-breaking, and very eventful, Shenzhou 21 astronaut mission has come to an end. The Shenzhou 21 trio returned to Earth today (May 29) from China's Tiangong space station, touching down safely at the Dongfeng Landing Site in Inner Mongolia at 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT; 8:11 p.m. China Standard Time). The three astronauts had been aloft for 210 days — a new record for a Chinese crewed mission. More (Source: Space.com - May 31)
ISS FACES ANOTHER AIR LEAK — AS CONCERNING SPACE STATION PROBLEM THAT SPRANG UP IN 2019 WON’T SEEM TO GO AWAY - The International Space Station is leaking air — again. The latest leak was confirmed by NASA last week and it follows an recurring problem that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had hoped was resolved earlier this year, Ars Technica reported. The 27-year-old orbiting space station has been plagued with air leaks since 2019 in a part of the station called the PrK module, a narrow transfer tunnel or vestibule on the Russian segment. In January, NASA announced that the PrK module had finally reached a “stable condition” after multiple inspections and sealant applications. More (Source: New York Post - May 31)
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