SKYWATCH TO OFFER INTEGRATED RADAR-OPTICAL SATELLITE IMAGERY - SkyWatch, a satellite data distributor based in Ontario, Canada, announced a new imagery product that combines radar and optical images. SkyWatch operates a platform called EarthCache that gives its customers access to commercial satellite data. The company said there is now a growing demand for integrated images that combine visually appealing pictures from optical satellites with data from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites that can see at night and through clouds. More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 17)
BUSY CREW ASSISTS EACH OTHER FOR SPACE SCIENCE AND LAB UPKEEP - The seven-member Expedition 69 crew conducted a wide variety of experimental work on Tuesday including more life science and physics research and installing new science hardware. The maintenance duties aboard the International Space Station included lab stowage work and orbital plumbing tasks. The station astronauts split their day assisting each other on a host of space research and lab upkeep on Tuesday. NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg began his day swapping samples inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for a space manufacturing study with help from UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi. More (Source: NASA - Aug 17)
U.S. DEACTIVATES GSSAP SURVEILLANCE SATELLITE, TWO NEW ONES IN THE WORKS - A geosynchronous surveillance satellite operated by the U.S. Space Force reached the end of its lifespan and was recently taken out of service. The satellite was part of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program known as GSSAP. The Space Systems Command confirmed that GSSAP Space Vehicle 2, in orbit since 2014, has been deactivated. “GSSAP 2 has run through the passivation and end of life checklist. It is now in a graveyard orbit,” Lt. Col. Greg Fertig, deputy program manager at the Space Systems Command’s GSSAP Program Office, said Aug. 14 in a statement to SpaceNews. More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 16)
LICIACUBE NAMED AIAA SMALL SATELLITE MISSION OF THE YEAR - LICIACube, designed, built and operated by Argotec, wins industry honors for its pioneering mission to further space science and the capabilities of small satellites. Argotec, a leading company in small satellite production, was honored for the reliability and technical excellence of its LICIACube mission with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Small Satellite Mission of the Year award. More (Source: SpaceRef - Aug 16)
EARTH OBSERVATION EVOLUTION: BIGGER SATELLITES PROMISE BIGGER PAYOFF FOR IMAGERY OPERATORS - Earth observation satellites are bulking up. “Everyone’s moving to these bigger satellites because the cost and volume constraints have changed,” said James Mason, Planet senior vice president of space systems. “All of our customers are demanding different types of data, higher quality and lower latency.” Capella Space’s latest generation of Acadia synthetic aperture radar satellites are 50 percent larger than their predecessors. More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 16)
CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT RADAR SATELLITE - China launched what is thought to be the world’s first geosynchronous orbit synthetic aperture radar satellite on Saturday. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 1:36 p.m. Eastern (1736 UTC) Aug. 12. The Land Exploration-4 01 (Ludi Tance-4 (01)) satellite successfully entered geosynchronous transfer orbit, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., (CASC) announced within an hour of liftoff. Few details of the satellite were provided by CASC. However the group’s “blue book” outlining plans for 2023 released in January noted the launch of a “high-orbit 20-meter [resolution] SAR satellite.” More (Source: SpaceNews - Aug 15)
THE SPACE FORCE IS LAUNCHING ITS OWN SWARM OF TINY SATELLITES - Four years after it was formed, the US Space Force has begun deploying its first satellite network. For the military, it marks a significant shift from relying on a handful of powerful, expensive satellites to a swarm of smaller, cheaper ones. From the Pentagon’s perspective, they’ll be a harder target for rivals to strike; a missile or a laser attack might take out an individual satellite, but would do little to weaken a whole swarm. “Historically, the Department of Defense has been investing in billion-dollar Battlestar Galacticas that are big juicy targets,” says Derek Tournear, director of the Space Force’s Space Development Agency. “We wanted to go to an architecture that gave us resilience against threats and that we could upgrade rapidly every two years.” More (Source: WIRED - Aug 15)
CHINA SENDS WORLD'S FIRST HIGH-ORBIT SAR SATELLITE INTO ORBIT, BOOSTING DISASTER MONITORING - China successfully sent the Land Exploration-4 01 satellite, the world's first high-orbit synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, into a preset orbit via a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province at 1:26 am on Sunday. The Global Times learned from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which oversaw the organization of the launch and manages the satellite program, that the newly launched satellite is the world's first high-orbit SAR satellite that has entered the engineering implementation phase. More (Source: Global Times - Aug 14)
BOEING CONFIDENT IN ACHIEVING SIX FLIGHTS TO THE ISS DESPITE STARLINER DELAY - Boeing’s Starliner Crewed Flight Test (CFT) which will carry astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) is now delayed to next year, with the earliest chance for launch in March. However, Boeing is still confident it will complete the six crewed flights ordered by NASA despite the planned demise of the ISS in 2030. NASA and Boeing shared the updated launch information in a press briefing on Monday, Aug. 7. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Aug 14)
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