OVERVIEW OF CHINA’S TIANGONG SPACE STATION - As a manned spacecraft operating in orbit for a long time, a space station embodies a country’s scientific and technological strength comprehensively. China’s manned space project was approved in 1992 with a 3-step strategic plan, and building a space station is the final goal of this plan. In September 2010, China’s manned space station project was officially established. After 11 years of unremitting efforts, on 2021 April 29, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched into orbit by the carrier rocket Long March-5B at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan. More (Source: SpaceRef - Aug 21)
MULTIPLE REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE LAUNCHED FROM CHINA, AS LAUNCH CADENCE INCREASES - With over 35 launches in 2023, China is on its way to returning to its high launch cadence after a slow start to the year. Launches in the past few days include two rockets outside the Chang Zheng family and the mighty Chang Zheng 3 B/E’s return as it flew for the fourth time this year. The Chinese startup LandSpace has released a short documentary about its rocket and the build process over the past five years. Part of the released footage shows the initial maiden launch of the methane rocket and how the rocket started to tumble once the vernier engines misbehaved. This problem ultimately caused the failure of flight one. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Aug 21)
FLAGSHIP CHINESE SPACE TELESCOPE TO ORBIT WITH SPACE STATION - China is currently developing a large-scale space-survey telescope that is expected to bring pioneering scientific results after it is placed in orbit alongside the country's space station, a spokesperson of the China Manned Space Agency said Friday. More (Source: CGTN - Aug 20)
THIS CANADIAN SATELLITE WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST 2 YEARS IN SPACE. IT'S NOW CELEBRATING 20 - The satellite was only supposed to last two years. But it's still healthy at 20. Canada's Scisat is defying all lifetime expectations at a crucial time in human history, helping track the effects of human-driven climate change. Throughout its long lifespan — its 20th launch anniversary fell on Aug. 12 — Scisat has been providing consistent data to help us heal Earth's atmosphere, if we take the time to pay attention. Three things have allowed the Canadian Space Agency to keep operating the satellite for so long, program lead Marcus Dejmek told Space.com. First, the satellite needs little fuel to stay stable in its orbit. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 20)
NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH, DOCKING - NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 69 crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 9:08 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 22 (6:08 a.m. Baikonur time Wednesday, Aug. 23), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA coverage will begin at 8:45 p.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. More (Source: NASA - Aug 19)
STARLINK SATELLITES SOAR FROM FLORIDA, WEST COAST LAUNCH SLIPS TO MONDAY DUE TO HURRICANE - A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral late Wednesday carrying 22 Starlink satellites but a launch from California scheduled for just hours later was delayed, dashing SpaceX’s plans for back-to-back launches for its broadband internet service. The Starlink 6-10 mission lit up the Florida night sky with a thunderous liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:36 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 16 (0336 UTC on the 17th). It had originally been scheduled to fly three hours earlier but slipped to the fourth of five available launch opportunities. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 19)
WATCH SPACEX LAUNCH 21 STARLINK SATELLITES EARLY TUESDAY - SpaceX plans to launch 21 of its Starlink satellites to orbit early Tuesday (Aug. 22), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT; 11:04 p.m. local California time on Aug. 21). Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company. Coverage is expected to begin five minutes before launch. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 18)
SPACEX'S CREW-7 MISSION WILL LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL CREW TO ISS NEXT WEEK - A multinational crew of astronauts is ready for their journey to space. Four astronauts from four countries will fly on SpaceX Dragon capsule to the International Space Station for a six-month mission. They will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on SpaceX's Crew-7 flight no earlier than Aug. 25, and you can watch the whole thing live here at Space.com, via NASA Television. "It's one of the things I think we're most proud of, is what we represent by being an all-international group," NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, who will become the second Iranian-American astronaut to reach space, told reporters during a livestreamed press conference on July 25. More (Source: Yahoo News - Aug 18)
NASA WORKING TO GET PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS UP AND RUNNING BEFORE ISS RETIRES IN 2030 - With the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled to retire in 2030, NASA is placing a huge emphasis on a seamless shift to future private space stations in low-Earth orbit. Many details of that transition are still being worked out, agency officials say. "The reason this is so important is because we do believe that the impact of a gap will be disruptive," said ISS director, Robyn Gatens, during a panel discussion at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference earlier this month. More (Source: Space.com - Aug 18)
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