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)
WEATHER DELAYS LAUNCH OF NASA’S BILLION-DOLLAR PSYCHE MISSION TO FRIDAY - With the exception of the weather, NASA and SpaceX said at a prelaunch news conference Wednesday everything was ready for the launch the Psyche mission at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 UTC) on Thursday, Oct. 12. on a seven-year mission to an asteroid of the same name. Arlena Moses, the launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron, said the launch forecast for Thursday remains only 20 percent favorable for liftoff, but she said there were a couple elements that made her somewhat hopeful for a Thursday liftoff. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 12)
NASA CALLS OFF SPACEWALK DUE TO LEAK ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA has canceled a spacewalk planned for Thursday (Oct. 12) following a space station leak detected earlier this week. NASA officials called off the planned International Space Station (ISS) spacewalk on Wednesday (Oct. 11), as a precautionary measure after a leak of ammonia coolant was spotted Monday (Oct. 9) in a backup radiator on the Russian Nauka science module. Another spacewalk on Oct. 20 is also postponed and new dates will be announced shortly, NASA officials stated. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 12)
IRAN IS SEEKING RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE FOR A NEW SPY SATELLITE - Iran plans to hold talks with Russia over assistance to build a new Khayyam remote-sensing satellite. Discussions will cover developing technical specifications for new Khayyam satellites, along with plans for a small geostationary satellite and a telecommunications satellite, Russia's TASS news agency reported, citing the Iranian Mehr News Agency. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 11)
WATCH CHINA LAUNCH MORE CLASSIFIED YAOGAN SPY SATELLITES - China added a trio of new satellites to its clusters of Yaogan orbital reconnaissance spacecraft last week. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 8:24 p.m. EDT on Oct. 4 (or 1224 GMT; 8:24 a.m. Beijing Time on Oct. 5). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success within an hour of liftoff. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 11)
RUSSIAN MODULE ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SUFFERS COOLANT LEAK - Russia's space agency said on Monday that its multipurpose Nauka module attached to the International Space Station suffered a leak of a backup cooling system used to regulate onboard temperatures for astronauts. The crew and the station "are not in danger" as astronauts assess the leak, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said in a statement posted on Telegram. More (Source: Reuters - Oct 10)
STRONG WINDS STYMIE BACK-TO-BACK SPACEX LAUNCH PLANS; VANDENBERG LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL - A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 12:43 a.m. PDT (0743 UTC). Its first stage booster, making its 14th flight, landed successfully on a drone ship in the Pacific. Upper level winds forced SpaceX to scrub the Starlink 6-22 mission from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX was hoping to kick off the second week of October with a pair of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches, lifting off from both of its Space Force-based launch pads. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 9)
Previous Next
