RUSSIAN 'INSPECTOR' SATELLITE APPEARS TO BREAK APART IN ORBIT, RAISING DEBRIS CONCERNS - A Russian satellite once used to inspect other spacecraft appears to have disintegrated in a graveyard orbit high above the Earth, according to ground-based imagery. The Luch/Olymp satellite, launched in 2014, is one of two secretive military Russian satellites that have been used to stalk spacecraft from the US and others in the geostationary belt (GEO), around 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above the equator.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 2)

NASA SELECTS AXIOM SPACE FOR FIFTH PRIVATE MISSION TO SPACE STATION - NASA and Axiom Space have signed an order for the fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch no earlier than January 2027 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “The award of our fifth private astronaut mission shows that commercial space is not a distant promise, but a present reality,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “By expanding access and sharpening competition in low Earth orbit, these missions are building the capabilities NASA will rely on as we move outward to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We look forward to building upon those capabilities with many private astronaut missions to come.”   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 1)

SPACEX WANTS TO LAUNCH A CONSTELLATION OF A MILLION SATELLITES TO POWER AI NEEDS - Elon Musk and his aerospace company have requested to build a network that's 100 times the number of satellites that are currently in orbit. On Friday, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a million satellites meant to create an "orbital data center." This isn't the first time we're hearing of Musk's plans to build an orbital data center, as it was mentioned by company insiders following the news that the CEO was reportedly preparing to take SpaceX public.   More
(Source: - Feb 1)

SPACEX LAUNCHES OVERNIGHT STARLINK FLIGHT AS IT UNVEILS NEW ‘STARGAZE’ SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SYSTEM - SpaceX completed its 13th and final Falcon 9 rocket launch of the month, which flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on in the predawn hours of Thursday morning. The Starlink 6-101 mission will add another 29 broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit megaconstellation. Prior to liftoff, the company had more than 9,500 satellites in orbit, according to stats maintained by Dr. Johnathan McDowell, an expert orbital tracker and astronomer.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES SOUTH KOREAN SATELLITE - A Rocket Lab Electron launched a South Korean imaging satellite Jan. 29 on the rocket’s second flight of the year. The Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 8:21 p.m. Eastern. The launch had been scheduled for 7:55 p.m. Eastern but was delayed when the countdown stopped about nine minutes before liftoff because of a technical issue that was later resolved.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 31)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 11,000TH STARLINK SATELLITE TO DATE ON THURSDAY - SpaceX launched what is scheduled to be its penultimate Falcon 9 rocket of the month with a mid-morning flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday. The Starlink 17-19 mission added another 25 satellites to its megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Among the satellites was the 11,000th Starlink satellite launched by the company since its first batch of production satellites were flown in May 2019.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 30)

DECLASSIFYING JUMPSEAT: AN AMERICAN PIONEER IN SPACE - The director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) recently declassified the existence of JUMPSEAT: the United States’ first-generation, highly elliptical orbit (HEO) signals-collection satellite. Launched from 1971 to 1987 under mission numbers 7701 to 7708, JUMPSEAT was the product of the United States Air Force’s (USAF) program at the NRO. Developed under a program called “Project EARPOP,” JUMPSEAT offered the U.S. a way of collecting intelligence during unprecedented geopolitical change and Cold War tensions that lasted until the early 1990s.    More
(Source: NRO.gov - Jan 30)

AMAZON LEO SATELLITES EXCEED BRIGHTNESS LIMITS, STUDY FINDS - Seeing a satellite zip across the night sky can be a fascinating sight. However, what may be spectacular for people on the ground is becoming a major problem for astronomers. A new study published on the arXiv preprint server has found that satellites from Amazon's mega Leo constellation (originally known as Project Kuiper) are bright enough to disrupt astronomical research.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Jan 29)

SPACEX LAUNCHES GPS 3 SATELLITE FOLLOWING SWITCH FROM ULA VULCAN ROCKET - The U.S. Space Force sent its ninth third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite into medium Earth orbit on Tuesday night. The satellite rode to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after the government moved the spacecraft from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket. The mission, named GPS 3-9, saw the GPS 3 Space Vehicle 09 (SV09) payload deploy from the rocket’s upper stage nearly 1.5 hours after liftoff. This latest positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite is equipped with what the Space Force calls M-Code technology, which it calls critical to “provide the warfighter with a significantly more accurate and jam-resistant capability.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 29)

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