BEZOS' BLUE ORIGIN ANNOUNCES SATELLITE RIVAL TO MUSK'S STARLINK - Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says it will launch more than 5,400 satellites to create a new communications network. Named TeraWave, it will offer continuous internet access around the world, with the ability to move large amounts of data much more quickly than rival services. But even after launching thousands of satellites, Blue Origin would still have far fewer in orbit than Elon Musk's Starlink, which currently dominates the satellite internet market. More (Source: BBC News - Jan 22)
THE FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION, HAVEN-1, IS NOW UNDERGOING ASSEMBLY FOR LAUNCH - The sprawling International Space Station is due to be decommissioned less than five years from now, and the US space agency has yet to formally publish rules and requirements for the follow-on stations being designed and developed by several different private companies. Although there are expected to be multiple bidders in “phase two” of NASA’s commercial space station program, there are at present four main contenders: Voyager Technologies, Axiom Space, Blue Origin, and Vast Space. More (Source: Ars Technica - Jan 21)
WHAT THE FIRST MEDICAL EVACUATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TELLS US ABOUT HEALTHCARE IN SPACE - For the first time in 25 years of continuous crewed operations, an astronaut has been medically evacuated from the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-11 mission ended when a SpaceX Dragon capsule brought the four astronauts of Crew 11 home following a medical incident in early January 2026. To protect the crewmember’s privacy, NASA hasn't yet disclosed details about what happened – and this article won't speculate. But the evacuation raises a question worth exploring: how do astronauts stay healthy in space, and why is this early evacuation so unusual? More (Source: Space.com - Jan 20)
CHINA'S SHENZHOU-20 RETURN CAPSULE TOUCHES DOWN ON EARTH - The return capsule of the Shenzhou-20 spaceship, carrying no astronauts, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 9:34 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Monday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). On-site inspections confirmed that the return capsule's overall appearance was normal and that items inside were in good condition. The Shenzhou-20 spaceship return mission was a complete success, the CMSA said. More (Source: Xinhua - Jan 20)
SPACEX LAUNCHES SUNDAY SUNSET STARLINK MISSION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX continued the expansion of its Starlink internet network with the launch of 29 new satellites Sunday. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida happened at 6:31:40 p.m. EST (2331:40 UTC). A cold front pushing through the Florida peninsula presented some weather challenges, particularly at the opening of the window. Forecasters with the 45th Weather Squadron, based at Cape Canaveral, on Saturday predicted a 60-percent chance of acceptable conditions at the opening of the window. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 19)
CHINA'S SHIJIAN 32 SATELLITE LAUNCH MISSION FAILS - A Long March 3B carrier rocket flight early on Saturday morning has failed, resulting in the loss of a satellite, according to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The rocket blasted off at 12:55 am carrying the Shijian 32 multirole satellite but encountered malfunctions during flight, failing to deploy the payload into orbit, the center said in a brief statement. More (Source: China Daily - Jan 18)
CREW-11 ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE IN HOUSTON AFTER 1ST-EVER MEDICAL EVACUATION FROM ISS - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission made it to Houston today (Jan. 16), just a day after their unprecedented medical evacuation from the International Space Station. The Crew-11 spaceflyers — NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui of Japan and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — splashed down off the coast of Long Beach, California early Thursday morning (Jan. 15). They then spent a day and night at a local medical facility before heading east to Texas. More (Source: Space.com - Jan 18)
NRO, SPACEX LAUNCH RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX executed a late night Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, which carrying an undisclosed number of intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission, NROL-105, has a payload of satellites heading to low Earth orbit, which are believed to be Starshield, a government variant of the Starlink satellites. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 8:39:51 p.m. PST (11:39:51 p.m. EST / 0439:51 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 17)
CHINESE COMMERCIAL ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITES FROM SEA FOR IOT CONSTELLATION - China launched a group of satellites from the waters near its eastern Shandong Province on Friday morning, marking the country's first sea-based launch in the new year. The commercial rocket, CERES-1 Y7, carrying four satellites for the Tianqi constellation, blasted off at 4:10 a.m., and sent them into the preset orbit. More (Source: CGTN - Jan 17)
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