STARLINER ASTRONAUTS HEAD BACK TO EARTH WITH SPACEX CREW-9 DUO TO MAKE LONG-AWAITED LANDING - Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are heading back to Earth after an unexpectedly long and eventful space mission, and you can watch their homecoming live. Wilmore, Williams, fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov departed the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" early Tuesday morning (March 18), setting up their splashdown off the coast of Florida later the same day. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 18)
NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF CREW-9 RETURN, SPLASHDOWN - NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17. NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. More (Source: NASA - Mar 18)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FINAL 5 SATELLITES FOR FRENCH 'INTERNET OF THINGS' CONSTELLATION - Rocket Lab launched the final five satellites for the French company Kinéis' "Internet of Things" constellation tonight (March 17). An Electron vehicle carrying five of Kinéis' "Internet of Things" spacecraft lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 9:31 p.m. EDT (0131 GMT and 2:31 p.m. local New Zealand time on March 18). The Electron deployed the five satellites into a circular orbit 404 miles (650 kilometers) above Earth about 66.5 minutes after liftoff as planned. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 18)
A GOOGLE-BACKED WEAPON TO BATTLE WILDFIRES MADE IT INTO ORBIT - The first satellite of the Google-backed FireSat constellation successfully made it to orbit over the weekend, kicking off what promises to be a new era in wildfire detection and monitoring. The constellation will keep a close eye on wildfires. When fully operational, the constellation’s more than 50 satellites will be able to image nearly all of Earth’s surface once every 20 minutes. The initial phase will consist of just three satellites, and it will revisit every point on the globe twice per day when it’s operational in 2026. More (Source: TechCrunch - Mar 18)
NASA’S NEW SATELLITE COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE FARM FOREVER - The NISAR satellite is set to revolutionize global agriculture by providing high-resolution, frequently updated radar data on crops and soil moisture. This breakthrough will allow farmers and policymakers to optimize planting schedules, irrigation, and resource allocation with unprecedented precision. Unlike traditional satellites, NISAR’s dual-frequency radar can penetrate clouds and crop canopies, offering deeper insights into biomass, soil moisture, and plant health. More (Source: SciTechDaily - Mar 17)
SPACEX SETS NEW LAUNCHPAD TURNAROUND RECORD WITH SATURDAY SUNRISE LAUNCH - SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at sunrise Saturday morning. The mission marked a record-breaking turnaround for launch operations at Space Launch Complex 40. The Starlink 12-16 mission added another 23 Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites to the constellation of more than 7,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 7:35 a.m. EDT (1135 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 16)
BAHRAIN SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES FIRST LOCALLY DEVELOPED SATELLITE - Bahrain’s first domestically designed and developed satellite, Al-Munther, was launched successfully on Saturday. The project, spearheaded by the National Space Science Agency, marks a milestone for Bahrain’s space ambitions. The 3U CubeSat is the first satellite in the region to integrate artificial intelligence for onboard image processing. More (Source: Arab News - Mar 16)
INTELLIGENCE AND DUAL-USE COMMERCIAL SATELLITES LAUNCH ON TRANSPORTER-13 - SpaceX’s Transporter-13 rideshare mission on March 15 carried dozens of small satellites into orbit, including several funded by U.S. military and intelligence agencies. This was SpaceX’s 13th dedicated smallsat rideshare that has become a regular pipeline to orbit for both commercial and government customers. Among the 74 payloads was a technology demonstrator from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency responsible for designing, building, and operating U.S. spy satellites. The payload consists of two cubesats designed and operated by NRO’s Advanced Systems & Technology Directorate for an unspecified research mission. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 16)
SPACEX'S CREW-10 MISSION ARRIVES AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO RELIEVE STARLINER ASTRONAUTS - SpaceX's Crew-10 astronaut mission has arrived at the International Space Station, ending a 28-hour orbital chase. Crew-10 launched on Friday evening (March 14) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sending four astronauts from three different nations toward the orbiting lab. Crew-10's Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance, caught up with the station early Sunday morning (March 16), docking with its Harmony module at 12:04 a.m. EDT (0404 GMT), while the two spacecraft were flying 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Atlantic Ocean. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
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