LAUNCH OF REVOLUTIONARY SATELLITE AND ‘MOON SNIPER’ LUNAR LANDER SCRUBBED JUST BEFORE LIFTOFF - The launch of a revolutionary satellite that will reveal celestial objects in a new light and the “Moon Sniper” lunar lander has been postponed. Liftoff was expected at at 8:26 p.m. ET Sunday, or 9:26 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Monday, but inclement weather — and specifically high upper winds above the launch site — led to the postponement less than 30 minutes prior, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. While the agency has not announced a new launch date, the launchpad at the Tanegashima Space Center is reserved through September 15. More (Source: CNN - Aug 28)
SPACEX FALCON 9 LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 mission of the day, sending 22 second-generation Starlink satellites into orbit on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. EDT (0105 UTC). It followed the successful launch of a four-member crew to the International Space Station earlier in the day. With Saturday’s successful mission, more than 5,000 Starlink satellites have now reached orbit. Based on statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains a space flight database, SpaceX has now launched a total of 5,005 Starlinks since 2019. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 28)
SPACEX CREW-7 DRAGON CAPSULE DOCKS AT SPACE STATION WITH INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUT TEAM - A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station Sunday (Aug. 27) to ferry a new astronaut crew to the orbiting lab to begin a half-year mission. The Crew Dragon capsule Endurance docked at the International Space Station (ISS) at 9:16 a.m. EDT (1313 GMT), where it parked itself at a space-facing port on the outpost's U.S.-built Harmony module after flying a wide loop around the orbital outpost. Dragon and the station were soaring 261 miles above Australia at the time. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 27)
NASA ORDERS 24-HOUR DELAY OF CREW DRAGON LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - NASA late Thursday scrubbed the planned launch early Friday of four fresh crew members to the International Space Station in order to resolve a few unspecified paperwork issues. The launch was reset for Saturday. Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese astronaut-surgeon Satoshi Furukawa and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov had planned to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 3:50 a.m. EDT Friday. More (Source: CBS News - Aug 25)
VIASAT REPORTS SECOND SATELLITE MALFUNCTION IN A MATTER OF WEEKS - A second Viasat communications satellite is malfunctioning in orbit, this time from the fleet of recently acquired U.K.-based Inmarsat, the company said on Thursday. The I6 F2 satellite, which Inmarsat launched in February, suffered a failure with its power system while climbing in orbit to where it planned to operate as a backup. Airbus manufactured the satellite and is, alongside Viasat, assessing whether the satellite can be recovered for use. More (Source: CNBC - Aug 25)
NORTH KOREA SAYS ITS SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH HAS FAILED, AGAIN - North Korea’s second attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit failed Thursday due to a malfunction in the third-stage of the rocket, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The unsuccessful launch came after North Korea’s first attempt failed in May, when the new satellite vehicle rocket Chollima-1 crashed into the sea soon after liftoff. Pyongyang will try another launch in October, KCNA said. More (Source: CNN - Aug 24)
WEST COAST FALCON 9 LAUNCHES SPACEX’S 100TH STARLINK MISSION - After delays caused by Hurricane Hilary, SpaceX launched its 100th Starlink mission on Tuesday. A Falcon 9 carrying 21 second-generation Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:37 a.m. PDT (5:37 a.m. EDT / 0937 UTC). It was the 100th Falcon 9 with the primary mission of deploying Starlink satellites since the first in 2019. Based on statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains a space flight database, Tuesday’s launch brings the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 4,983. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 23)
RUSSIAN PROGRESS CARGO SPACECRAFT LAUNCHES TOWARD THE ISS - A robotic Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launched toward the International Space Station tonight (Aug. 22), carrying 3 tons of supplies toward the orbiting lab. The Progress 85 vehicle lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight at 9:08 p.m. EDT (0108 GMT on Aug. 23). If all goes according to plan, the freighter will arrive at the orbiting lab on Thursday (Aug. 24) at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT on Aug. 25). You can watch the rendezvous and docking here on Space.com when the time comes. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 23)
CREW-7 MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION GIVEN GREEN LIGHT FOR LAUNCH BY NASA, PARTNERS - NASA, SpaceX and its international partners meet at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday and gave the go ahead for the launch of the seventh operational Crew Dragon mission to the space station. The three astronauts and one cosmonaut of the Crew 7 mission are set to launch aboard Crew Dragon Endurance on Friday, Aug. 25 at 3:49 a.m. EDT (0749 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 22)
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