NASA CONSIDERING BUDGET CUTS FOR HUBBLE AND CHANDRA SPACE TELESCOPES - NASA is considering cutting the budget of two of its biggest space telescopes as it faces broader spending reductions for its astrophysics programs. In an Oct. 13 presentation to the National Academies’ Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, said he was studying unspecified cuts in the operating budgets of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope to preserve funding for other priorities in the division. More (Source: SpaceNews - Oct 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES NASA’S PSYCHE SPACECRAFT IN FALCON HEAVY MISSION - SpaceX launched NASA’s Psyche mission on a Falcon Heavy mission on Friday morning, launching the spacecraft to an interplanetary transfer orbit. The Psyche spacecraft is now headed toward the asteroid of the same name, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is NASA’s first mission to study an asteroid that has more metal than rock or ice. Psyche is one of the largest asteroids in the solar system. More (Source: Via Satellite - Oct 15)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET CARRYING 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON ITS SECOND FRIDAY LAUNCH - A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites, delayed by upper level winds and held up for the Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Psyche, launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:01 p.m. EDT (2301 UTC) Friday night. The U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, based at Cape Canaveral, on Thursday predicted a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather for the first of today’s launch opportunities which improved to 80 percent chance at the end of the window. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 15)
STARTUP GUARDIANSAT GETS RESEARCH GRANT FOR SATELLITE SELF-DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY - The startup GuardianSat announced Oct. 12 it won a grant from the National Science Foundation’s America’s Seed Fund to advance the company’s technology designed to protect satellites from collisions with debris objects in space. GuardianSat, based in Delaware, won a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 research contract worth about $273,000. In addition the company will get technical support from the Aerospace Corp. America’s Seed Fund invests up to $200 million a year in promising startups. More (Source: SpaceNews - Oct 13)
DEBRIS-REMOVAL CONTENDERS HIT DESIGN MILESTONE FOR DOUBLE-SATELLITE MISSION - The two contenders hoping the U.K. chooses them to de-orbit a pair of derelict satellites in 2026 with a single robotic spacecraft have finished the system requirements review for their mission. The British subsidiary of Japan’s Astroscale announced Oct. 10 it had completed this early phase of the mission after meeting the UK Space Agency (UKSA) in August, when technical requirements that include the initial design of a robotic arm were reviewed. Switzerland-based ClearSpace’s U.K. unit said in June it had completed its system requirements review — a key milestone in a satellite development phase where a spacecraft’s functionality, design, and operational objectives are examined. More (Source: SpaceNews - Oct 12)
WEATHER DELAYS LAUNCH OF NASA’S BILLION-DOLLAR PSYCHE MISSION TO FRIDAY - With the exception of the weather, NASA and SpaceX said at a prelaunch news conference Wednesday everything was ready for the launch the Psyche mission at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 UTC) on Thursday, Oct. 12. on a seven-year mission to an asteroid of the same name. Arlena Moses, the launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron, said the launch forecast for Thursday remains only 20 percent favorable for liftoff, but she said there were a couple elements that made her somewhat hopeful for a Thursday liftoff. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 12)
NASA CALLS OFF SPACEWALK DUE TO LEAK ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA has canceled a spacewalk planned for Thursday (Oct. 12) following a space station leak detected earlier this week. NASA officials called off the planned International Space Station (ISS) spacewalk on Wednesday (Oct. 11), as a precautionary measure after a leak of ammonia coolant was spotted Monday (Oct. 9) in a backup radiator on the Russian Nauka science module. Another spacewalk on Oct. 20 is also postponed and new dates will be announced shortly, NASA officials stated. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 12)
IRAN IS SEEKING RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE FOR A NEW SPY SATELLITE - Iran plans to hold talks with Russia over assistance to build a new Khayyam remote-sensing satellite. Discussions will cover developing technical specifications for new Khayyam satellites, along with plans for a small geostationary satellite and a telecommunications satellite, Russia's TASS news agency reported, citing the Iranian Mehr News Agency. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 11)
WATCH CHINA LAUNCH MORE CLASSIFIED YAOGAN SPY SATELLITES - China added a trio of new satellites to its clusters of Yaogan orbital reconnaissance spacecraft last week. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 8:24 p.m. EDT on Oct. 4 (or 1224 GMT; 8:24 a.m. Beijing Time on Oct. 5). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success within an hour of liftoff. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 11)
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