AI CHALLENGE ADVANCES SATELLITE-BASED DISASTER MAPPING - Four teams from different countries have been recognised for their breakthrough work in using artificial intelligence to detect earthquake damage from space, marking the conclusion of a global competition organised by the European Space Agency in collaboration with the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ – commonly referred to as ‘the Charter’. More (Source: European Space Agency - Oct 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 29 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX its penultimate Falcon 9 rocket launch of October, which flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station around lunchtime on Wednesday. The Starlink 10-37 mission carried 29 of the company’s Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 12:35 p.m. EDT (1635 UTC). The satellites were deployed roughly an hour into the mission. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 30)
SPACEX MARKS 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST STARLINK CUSTOMER WITH SUNDAY SATELLITE LAUNCH - SpaceX completed a Sunday morning Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, flying more of its Starlink broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. The mission coincided with the fifth anniversary of SpaceX acquiring its first paying customer to use the broadband internet service. The Starlink 10-21 mission was also the 230th launch of the V2 Mini variety of its Starlink satellites. The 28 satellites were added to growing constellation of more than 8,700 spacecraft in orbit, which support more than seven million customers worldwide. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)
SPACEX BREAKS ITS CALIFORNIA PAD TURNAROUND RECORD WITH SUNSET STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX continued its rapid pace of launches Monday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 11-21 mission added another 28 more of the V2 Mini iteration of the satellites into low Earth orbit. The flight broke the record for the fastest pad turnaround for SpaceX’s West Coast launch pad, which came two days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 20 seconds since the Starlink 11-12 mission on Saturday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)
CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE - China on Sunday sent a new satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in its southwestern Sichuan province. The Gaofen-14 02 satellite was launched at 11:55 am (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. More (Source: China Daily - Oct 27)
JAPAN LAUNCHES ADVANCED NEW CARGO SPACECRAFT TO ISS FOR 1ST TIME - Japan's new HTV-X cargo spacecraft launched on its first-ever mission to the International Space Station on Saturday (Oct. 25). The robotic HTV-X lifted off atop an H3 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 9 a.m local Japan time on Oct. 26). It is expected to arrive at the station for its capture and berthing on Wednesday (Oct. 29) at about 11:50 a.m. EDT (1550 GMT). More (Source: Space.com - Oct 26)
IN ORBIT YOU HAVE TO SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP - If you watch sci-fi movies, you’d think that flying a spaceship is just like driving a slightly more complicated car (or a Winnebago in Spaceballs). And George Lucas gave us those galactic battles with pilots who look like they’re flying fighter jets on Earth. Well, bad news: Space is really, really different. In particular, moving a vehicle in orbit around Earth is way more complicated than that. The maneuvers you might make with a plane sometimes have the opposite effect in orbit. More (Source: WIRED - Oct 25)
SPACEX EXPENDS FALCON 9 BOOSTER TO LAUNCH SPAINSAT NG 2 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage flew Thursday for the 21st and final time — a rare expendable mission for the company’s reusable rocket, which deployed a communications satellite for Spain. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, but was delayed 24 hours for reasons not disclosed by SpaceX. The rocket was sighted at the launch pad Wednesday morning, but it returned to its assembly hangar before rolling out again. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 24)
THE END OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The ISS has been in low orbit above the earth for almost 25 years. It’s played host to astronauts from around the world. But that’s about to come to an end. NASA is gearing up to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and it’s working with private companies to begin development of commercial space stations to take its place. More (Source: NPR - Oct 23)
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