OVER 1 MILLION SATELLITES COULD BE HEADED TO EARTH ORBIT, AND SCIENTISTS ARE WORRIED - Earth's lower orbit, already crowded with tens of thousands of satellites, may soon choke with many more, underscoring a need for stringent laws regarding the use of shared orbital space, according to new research. More specifically, experts believe more than a million satellites are headed to low-Earth orbit. To arrive at that figure, researchers studied recent filings in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) database, which is a United Nations agency responsible for granting spaces in orbit for satellite use. To launch and operate satellite populations, nations are required to submit relevant information to the ITU.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 18)

AMAZON SHARES AN UPDATE ON HOW PROJECT KUIPER’S TEST SATELLITES ARE PERFORMING - At 2:06 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 6, Project Kuiper sent its first two satellites into space on board an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA). The launch kicked off the Kuiper Protoflight mission, a monthslong series of tests to validate our system design and network performance. Already, our engineers have collected some of the most critical data from the mission. “There’s plenty of work ahead, but at this point in the mission, I’m thrilled to report that KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 are operating nominally,” said Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiper’s vice president of technology...   More
(Source: About Amazon - Oct 17)

CHINA TO SEND ASTRONAUTS TO SPACE STATION LATER THIS MONTH - The Shenzhou XVII mission is scheduled to launch this month to transport three astronauts to the Tiangong space station, according to China Central Television, the State broadcaster. CCTV reported on Sunday that the Shenzhou XVII spacecraft will be lifted by a Long March 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert to dock with the Tiangong station.   More
(Source: China Daily - Oct 17)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW YUNHAI REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE - China added to its series of Yunhai remote sensing satellites late Saturday with a launch from the Gobi Desert. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:54 p.m. Eastern, Oct. 14 (0054 UTC, Oct. 15). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), confirmed launch success within an hour, also revealing the payload for the mission to be Yunhai-1 (04). CASC’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology provided the launcher for the mission and developed the Yunhai-1 (04) satellite.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 16)

NASA CONSIDERING BUDGET CUTS FOR HUBBLE AND CHANDRA SPACE TELESCOPES - NASA is considering cutting the budget of two of its biggest space telescopes as it faces broader spending reductions for its astrophysics programs. In an Oct. 13 presentation to the National Academies’ Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, said he was studying unspecified cuts in the operating budgets of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope to preserve funding for other priorities in the division.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES NASA’S PSYCHE SPACECRAFT IN FALCON HEAVY MISSION - SpaceX launched NASA’s Psyche mission on a Falcon Heavy mission on Friday morning, launching the spacecraft to an interplanetary transfer orbit. The Psyche spacecraft is now headed toward the asteroid of the same name, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is NASA’s first mission to study an asteroid that has more metal than rock or ice. Psyche is one of the largest asteroids in the solar system.    More
(Source: Via Satellite - Oct 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FALCON 9 ROCKET CARRYING 22 STARLINK SATELLITES ON ITS SECOND FRIDAY LAUNCH - A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites, delayed by upper level winds and held up for the Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Psyche, launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:01 p.m. EDT (2301 UTC) Friday night. The U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, based at Cape Canaveral, on Thursday predicted a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather for the first of today’s launch opportunities which improved to 80 percent chance at the end of the window.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 15)

STARTUP GUARDIANSAT GETS RESEARCH GRANT FOR SATELLITE SELF-DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY - The startup GuardianSat announced Oct. 12 it won a grant from the National Science Foundation’s America’s Seed Fund to advance the company’s technology designed to protect satellites from collisions with debris objects in space. GuardianSat, based in Delaware, won a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 research contract worth about $273,000. In addition the company will get technical support from the Aerospace Corp. America’s Seed Fund invests up to $200 million a year in promising startups.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 13)

DEBRIS-REMOVAL CONTENDERS HIT DESIGN MILESTONE FOR DOUBLE-SATELLITE MISSION - The two contenders hoping the U.K. chooses them to de-orbit a pair of derelict satellites in 2026 with a single robotic spacecraft have finished the system requirements review for their mission. The British subsidiary of Japan’s Astroscale announced Oct. 10 it had completed this early phase of the mission after meeting the UK Space Agency (UKSA) in August, when technical requirements that include the initial design of a robotic arm were reviewed. Switzerland-based ClearSpace’s U.K. unit said in June it had completed its system requirements review — a key milestone in a satellite development phase where a spacecraft’s functionality, design, and operational objectives are examined.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 12)

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