SPACEX TO LAUNCH EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY MISSION - A European spacecraft is set to launch on a mission to help astronomers resolve an “embarrassing situation” in cosmology, although the launch itself is another kind of embarrassing situation for Europe. The European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft is ready to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. Eastern July 1 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with favorable weather expected.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 30)

VIRGIN GALACTIC LAUNCHES IT’S FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO SPACE - Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial space flight Thursday, sending three Italian researchers, two company pilots and an astronaut trainer on a high-speed thrill ride to the edge of space aboard a winged rocketplane. Cheered on by Virgin employees, family members and friends gathered at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the twin-fuselage VMS Eve carrier jet took off at 10:30 a.m. EDT, carrying the company’s VSS Unity spaceplane and its six passengers up to an altitude of about 44,500 feet.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 30)

ABOVE: ORBITAL DEVELOPS ENERGY SYSTEMS FOR SPACECRAFT UNDER RECENT AWARDS - Above: Orbital is developing technology to provide energy for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing with the support of two recent Small Business Innovation Research awards. Under a $75,000 U.S. Air Force contract announced in May, Above: Orbital is working with Ascent Solar Technologies on manufacturing thin-film solar photovoltaics in space. Above: Orbital also is developing rapidly deployable structures for space-based solar panels, communications antenna arrays and other large structures under a $1.7 million U.S. Space Force award announced in March.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 29)

BRITISH STARTUP POWERS UP SENSOR FOR MONITORING TINY ORBITAL DEBRIS - Odin Space is preparing to start detecting tiny but potentially dangerous pieces of orbital debris in the coming weeks from a sensor on a recently launched space tug, according to the British startup’s cofounder and CEO James New. The venture announced June 27 that it had successfully powered up the demo sensor, integrated with D-Orbit’s small satellite-carrying ION orbital transfer vehicle that SpaceX launched earlier this month to low Earth orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 28)

FINAL ARIANE 5 LAUNCH SCHEDULED FOR JULY 4 AFTER FIXES TO BOOSTER SEPARATION SYSTEM - Europe’s last Ariane 5 rocket is now scheduled to lift off July 4 after being grounded for more than two weeks due to a problem with the pyrotechnic systems required to jettison the launcher’s strap-on solid rocket boosters. Europe’s workhorse rocket is being retired after 27 years of service. The Ariane 5 was originally scheduled to fly on June 16, but officials from Arianespace, the rocket’s commercial operator, announced on the eve of launch that they were delaying the mission to replace pyrotechnic transmission lines on the vehicle.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 28)

NASA TO PROVIDE COVERAGE AS DRAGON DEPARTS STATION WITH SCIENCE - NASA is set to receive scientific research samples and hardware as a SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft departs the International Space Station on Thursday, June 29. The agency will provide live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure starting at 11:45 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and online. Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station. Undock is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.   More
(Source: NASA - Jun 27)

ROCKET LAB TO LAUNCH MULTIPLE SATELLITES AS PART OF AN UPCOMING RECOVERY MISSION - The ‘Baby Come Back’ mission, Rocket Lab’s 39th Electron launch, is scheduled to deploy from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a launch window that opens on July 14, 2023, UTC. Rocket Lab is also planning to conduct a marine recovery of Electron’s first stage as part of this mission. Rocket Lab’s recovery team will retrieve Electron using a customized vessel and transport the stage back to Rocket Lab’s production complex for analysis. Data from this recovered stage will inform Rocket Lab’s ongoing recovery and reuse program.   More
(Source: SatNews - Jun 27)

NORTH KOREA'S 1ST SPY SATELLITE HAS BEEN PULLED FROM THE SEA AFTER LAUNCH FAILURE: REPORT - South Korean military authorities have salvaged North Korea's first spy satellite after its failed first launch last month, according to media reports. North Korea attempted to launch the satellite on May 31, but the rocket carrying it suffered an unknown failure and crashed into the sea shortly after liftoff. The satellite, known as Malligyong-1, is reported to be designed to take high-resolution images of Earth to provide intelligence for the reclusive country's military.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 27)

SPACE ELEVATORS ARE INCHING CLOSER TO REALITY - When people first started exploring space in the 1960s, it cost upwards of $80,000 (adjusted for inflation) to put a single pound of payload into low-Earth orbit. A major reason for this high cost was the need to build a new, expensive rocket for every launch. That really started to change when SpaceX began making cheap, reusable rockets, and today, the company is ferrying customer payloads to LEO at a price of just $1,300 per pound.   More
(Source: Freethink - Jun 26)

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