THE UNITED KINGDOM IS LAUNCHING GIANT CLAWS INTO ORBIT TO CLEAN UP SPACE JUNK - The U.K.’s Active Debris Removal (U.K. ADR) mission aims to send a refuelable spacecraft with giant robotic claws into Earth orbit to grab two dead satellites and fling them into our planet’s atmosphere, where they will burn up, according to a government statement. The spacecraft is slated to launch from Scotland in 2029 and will be built by the U.K. branch of ClearSpace, an in-orbit servicing company.   More
(Source: Smithsonian Magazine - Oct 29)

CHINA’S TOP-SECRET SPACEPLANE CAN’T HIDE IN LOW-EARTH ORBIT - A winged Chinese spacecraft bearing a strong resemblance to the US military’s X-37B spaceplane was photographed in orbit by a passing US-owned commercial satellite in 2024, and we finally have the image. The Chinese spaceplane has delta wings, payload bay doors, a dark heat shield, and a rear-mounted service module with power-generating solar arrays. In other words, the design of the winged ship is, to a great degree, a copy of the X-37B spaceplane flown by the US Space Force.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Oct 29)

PHOTO OF 14,000 SATELLITE TRAILS SHOWS HOW BUSY SPACE IS BECOMING - Astrophotographer and teacher Brendan Larsen spent 2 hours taking 578 photos of one section of sky in New Zealand to see how satellites are changing our night skies. These shocking images reveal their impact. The main picture is the composite of all 578 exposures and contains an estimated 14,000 satellite trails.   More
(Source: New Scientist - Oct 29)

ASTROSCALE PROPOSES FLEET OF 'BODYGUARD' SPACECRAFT TO PROTECT SATELLITES FROM ORBITAL ATTACKS - Technologies developed and tested in orbit to remove space junk and fix broken satellites can be speedily repurposed to build fleets of bodyguard spacecraft to protect important satellites from adversary attacks, space clean-up company Astroscale thinks. Astroscale made history with its 2024 up-close in-orbit inspection of a discarded Japanese rocket stage during the pioneering ADRAS-J mission in low Earth orbit (LEO), the region of space below altitudes of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers).   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 28)

WEST COAST FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK SATELLITES - SpaceX will deploy another batch of Starlink satellites from a Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Tuesday morning. Liftoff of the Starlink 15-16 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E happened at 12:25 a.m. PDT (3:25 a.m. EDT / 0825 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)

SUNLIGHT AT NIGHT: US STARTUP’S DEMONSTRATION OF LIGHTING EARTH FROM SPACE DRAWS CRITICISM - Locals in a rural area of California were recently startled to see dazzlingly bright light shining down from nearby mountains at night, illuminating a swathe of the desert below. Unbeknown to them, the strange nocturnal illumination was the latest step in a company’s plan to erect thousands of giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight on to the Earth during night-time...   More
(Source: The Guardian - Oct 27)

EUROPE'S SPACE RIDER VEHICLE COMES CRASHING DOWN DURING DROP TEST - Europe has dropped the ball on the prototype for its first reusable spacecraft. Or, rather, the prototype itself was dropped — on purpose — but the outcome of its fall was not what engineers had hoped for. The incident occurred during an Oct. 6 drop test of the full-scale Space Rider model, from the European Space Agency (ESA). The robotic vehicle's initial drogue parachute deployed successfully, but its main parafoil detached during deployment, leaving the prototype unable to slow its descent before crashing into the ground, according to ESA officials. The cause of the failure remains under investigation.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 26)

PROPOSED TRUMP CUTS TO WEATHER SATELLITES COULD SET BACK FORECASTING BY A DECADE, METEOROLOGISTS WARN - Experts are warning that cuts to a key satellite program, made by the Trump administration, will set back weather forecasting in the U.S. by nearly a decade. The new report, released by the Government Accountability Office on Friday, Oct. 16, suggests the budget for the Geostationary Extended Observations program could be cut from $19.6 billion in lifecycle costs to $13 billion.    More
(Source: People.com - Oct 25)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK 15-15 MISSION FOLLOWING A TRIO OF SCRUBS - The fourth time proved to be the charm for SpaceX as it launched the Starlink 15-15 mission a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday afternoon. the launch came following three days of scrubs due to technical issues and poor weather. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E on Oct. 23 happened at 3:48 p.m. PDT (6:48 p.m. EDT / 2248 UTC) on Friday, Oct. 23.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 24)

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