ORBITAL SIDEKICK ACQUIRES FIRST LIGHT IMAGERY - Hyperspectral startup Orbital Sidekick is acquiring imagery from its first two satellites launched in April on the SpaceX Transporter-7 rideshare flight. “We recently acquired first light, which was very exciting,” Katie Corcoran, OSK vice president of government affairs, said May 22 at the GEOINT Symposium here. “We have two healthy payloads on orbit right now.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 24)

THE SPACEPORT COMPANY DEMONSTRATES OFFSHORE LAUNCH OPERATIONS - Two companies have demonstrated the ability to conduct launches from a floating platform in U.S. territorial waters, a concept that could help address congestion at terrestrial launch sites. The Spaceport Company announced May 23 it hosted four sounding rocket launches by Evolution Space on May 22 from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The launches were part of a proof-of-concept test of the ability to conduct launches from an offshore platform.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 24)

AXIOM’S SECOND PRIVATE ASTRONAUT MISSION DOCKS AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Four commercial space fliers who launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Axiom’s second private astronaut mission Sunday arrived at the International Space Station on a SpaceX crew capsule Monday to start an eight-day stay full of scientific experiments, student outreach events, and sightseeing. Docking of SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft at the space station’s Harmony module occurred at 9:12 a.m. EDT (1312 UTC), completing an automated rendezvous that saw the capsule match orbits with the complex with a sequence of thruster firings after launching Sunday from Florida’s Space Coast.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 23)

CHINA LAUNCHES "MACAO SCIENCE 1" SPACE EXPLORATION SATELLITES - China successfully sent two satellites of "Macao Science 1," a space exploration program, into space on Sunday. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said that the satellites were launched at 4:00 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and entered the preset orbits successfully. It was the 474th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. The launch also sent a scientific experiment satellite named Luojia-2 into space.   More
(Source: China Military - May 22)

ICEYE TO SUPPLY UAE SAR SATELLITES - Finland-based Iceye announced an agreement May 17 to develop a five-satellite constellation for Bayanat, a United Arab Emirates geospatial analysis firm, and Emirati fleet operator Yahsat. The first Iceye-built Emirati synthetic aperture radar satellites is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2024. Iceye also is providing the ground segment.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 22)

TWO AMERICANS, TWO SAUDIS LAUNCH ON COMMERCIAL ASTRONAUT MISSION - Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with more time in space than any other American, rocketed back into orbit for the fourth time Sunday, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida with a fare-paying investor and private pilot, and the first two Saudi Arabian astronauts to fly to the International Space Station. The four-person crew strapped into their seats on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 UTC) Sunday, then ground teams evacuated the pad to allow SpaceX to start loading liquid propellants into the Falcon 9 rocket shortly after 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC).   More
(Source: SpoaceFlight Now - May 22)

SPACEX LAUNCHES ONEWEB GEN 2 TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR - SpaceX launched a technology demonstration satellite for OneWeb’s second-generation broadband constellation May 20, along with spares for the British firm’s current low Earth orbit (LEO) network and another that U.S.-based Iridium Communications operates. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a total 21 spacecraft lifted off 9:16 a.m. Eastern amid heavy fog at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a polar trajectory to the south. All five Iridium spares were deployed an hour later, followed by 16 OneWeb satellites that separated in pairs.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 21)

AXIOM’S SECOND CREW MISSION HAS NARROW WINDOW FOR LAUNCH - The second fully commercial astronaut flight to the International Space Station will have just two opportunities to launch Sunday and Monday, or else wait until after an upcoming SpaceX resupply mission next month to deliver a new set of high-priority solar arrays to the complex. The private crew mission, managed by Houston-based Axiom Space, is set for liftoff at 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 UTC) Sunday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four-person crew will ride into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 21)

SPACE FORCE DELIVERS SECOND U.S. PAYLOAD TO BE HOSTED ON JAPANESE SATELLITE - The U.S. Space Force announced May 17 it has delivered the second of two payloads to be hosted on Japanese satellites under an agreement the United States signed with Japan in 2020. The two U.S. payloads are optical sensors developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory. They will be hosted on Japan’s geostationary Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) satellites. The first payload was delivered earlier this year.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 20)

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