CHINA PLANS TO TAKE 'HACK-PROOF' QUANTUM SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY TO NEW HEIGHTS - China is planning new, cutting-edge quantum communications satellites. China launched the first dedicated quantum communications satellite, named Micius, in 2016, and has been quietly working on followup missions in the years since. The next satellites will be even more challenging. "Low Earth orbit quantum key satellite networking and medium- and high-orbit quantum science experimental platforms are the main development directions in the future," Wang Jianyu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said Oct. 15 at the third China Space Science Conference, according to a CAS statement.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 31)

PUTIN: RUSSIA TO LAUNCH FIRST MODULE OF SPACE STATION BY 2027 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the first module of the Russian Orbital Station could be launched into orbit by 2027, as the International Space Station's (ISS) resources are exhausted. Speaking at a meeting with young scientists and space industry specialists, Putin said that Russia aims to build a complete station, not just a single segment.   More
(Source: CGTN - Oct 30)

STARLINK SATELLITES ‘LEAKING’ SIGNALS THAT INTERFERE WITH RADIO TELESCOPES - When I was a child in the 1970s, seeing a satellite pass overhead in the night sky was a rare event. Now it is commonplace: sit outside for a few minutes after dark, and you can’t miss them. Thousands of satellites have been launched into Earth orbit over the past decade or so, with tens of thousands more planned in coming years. Many of these will be in “mega-constellations” such as Starlink, which aim to cover the entire globe.   More
(Source: Cosmos Magazine - Oct 30)

SPACEX TO TRY AGAIN AT LAUNCHING 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON OCT. 30 AFTER ABORT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch 23 Starlink internet satellites on Monday (Oct. 30), on its second attempt after an abort. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday (Oct. 30) at 7:20 p.m. EDT (2320 GMT). If the Falcon 9 can't get off the ground on time, seven backup opportunities are available, from 7:52 p.m. EDT to 10:22 p.m. EDT (2352 to 0222 GMT on Oct. 30), according to a SpaceX mission description.    More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 30)

NEW AGREEMENT ENABLES U.S. LAUNCHES FROM AUSTRALIAN SPACEPORTS - The governments of Australia and the United States have signed an agreement that could allow American rockets to launch from Australian spaceports, although it is unclear how much demand there is for them. The U.S. State Department announced Oct. 26 that the two countries signed a technology safeguards agreement (TSA) regarding space launches from Australia. The agreement provides the “legal and technical framework” for American launches from Australian facilities while protecting sensitive technologies.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 29)

GROUNDBREAKING LASER COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIMENT FLYING TO ISS ON SPACEX CARGO MISSION ON NOV. 5 - Early next month, SpaceX will send a clutch of science experiments to the space station investigating a range of topics, from high-speed laser communications to rolling atmospheric waves on Earth. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the uncrewed Dragon spacecraft, is scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Nov. 5, kicking off the CRS-29 cargo mission. Launch coverage will be available here at Space.com, via NASA Television.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 29)

PROGRESS CONTINUES TOWARD NASA’S BOEING CREW FLIGHT TEST TO STATION - NASA and Boeing are working to complete the agency’s verification and validation activities ahead of Starliner’s first flight with astronauts to the International Space Station. While Boeing is targeting March to have the spacecraft ready for flight, teams decided during a launch manifest evaluation that a launch in April will better accommodate upcoming crew rotations and cargo resupply missions this spring.   More
(Source: NASA - Oct 29)

RUSSIA RENAMED ITS AMBITIOUS SATELLITE PROGRAM AFTER PUTIN MISSPOKE ITS NAME - It was always abundantly clear that the leader of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos from 2018 to 2022, Dmitry Rogozin, sought to kowtow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now we have an anecdote from Putin himself that highlights how much. The story concerns a satellite constellation now known as Sfera (or Sphere, in English), a modestly ambitious constellation of 264 satellites. The Sphere constellation is intended to provide broadband Internet service from middle-Earth orbit to Russia and high-resolution Earth observation satellites.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Oct 29)

CHINA HAS SENT ITS YOUNGEST-EVER ASTRONAUT CREW TO THE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - When China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei blasted off into space in 2003, it was a history making moment that declared his country’s arrival as an emerging space power. Two decades on, China has become a major presence in space – a status that mirrors its growing economic, political and military ascendency on Earth. It now has its own permanent outpost in orbit – a fully operational space station – and routinely rotates crews to live and work there.    More
(Source: CNN - Oct 27)

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