U.S. SPACE FORCE AND ASTROSCALE TO CO-INVEST IN A REFUELING SATELLITE - Astroscale U.S., a provider of on-orbit services to extend the life of satellites, has signed an agreement with the U.S. Space Force to co-invest in an on-orbit refueling vehicle. Col. Joyce Bulson, project manager at Space Systems Command, said the agreement includes $25.5 million in government funding and approximately $12 million to be provided by Astroscale. The company will deliver in 24 months a “manifest ready” prototype vehicle capable of refueling a satellite in orbit, Bulson said Sept. 25 in an interview with SpaceNews.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 26)

SPACE FORCE GETS ANOTHER WEATHER SATELLITE FROM NOAA - The U.S. Space Force for the second time has taken ownership of a retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite to fill gaps in coverage for the U.S. military. NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-15, originally activated in 2011, was transferred to the Space Force to extend weather coverage of the Indian Ocean region for the next several years, the Space Force announced Sept. 22.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 25)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES FROM CALIFORNIA ON SEPT. 25 - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from California early Monday morning (Sept. 25), carrying 21 Starlink satellites to orbit. The Falcon 9 is lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Monday at 4:48 a.m. EDT (0848 GMT; 1:48 a.m. local California time). The launch was streamed live via SpaceX's account on X (formerly Twitter); coverage started about five minutes before liftoff.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 25)

NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FROM US INDUSTRY FOR STATION DEORBIT SPACECRAFT - NASA has released a request for proposal from U.S. industry for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), a spacecraft meant to safely deorbit the International Space Station as part of its planned retirement. To maximize value to the government and enhance competition, the acquisition will allow offerors flexibility in proposing Firm Fixed Price or Cost Plus Incentive Fee for the Design, Development, Test and Evaluation phase. The remainder of the contract will be Firm Fixed Price.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 21)

BANG! INFLATABLE SPACE STATION MODULE BLOWS APART IN EXPLOSIVE TEST - That's now five space station prototypes blown up for science's sake. The Colorado company Sierra Space, which is creating an inflatable module for an International Space Station (ISS) successor, deliberately exploded a new design on Aug. 17 that included a metal plate. (In this case, the plate was a cheaper stand-in for a window, but metal can also be used to simulate robotic attachments or other items.)   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 21)

SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES STARLINK SATELLITES ON RECORD-BREAKING 17TH FLIGHT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just set a reuse record. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT Sept. 20), carrying 22 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO). The rocket's first stage came back to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch, landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed at sea.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 21)

FCC DIRECTING MORE SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS TO MITIGATE EFFECTS ON ASTRONOMY - The Federal Communications Commission is requiring more operators of satellite constellations to work with astronomers to minimize the effects their satellites will have on ground-based astronomy. The FCC issued authorizations Aug. 31 to Iceye and Planet, updating their licenses to add new satellites. Iceye, which operates a constellation of synthetic aperture radar imaging satellites, added eight satellites to its license, while Planet added seven of its upcoming Pelican high-resolution imaging satellites to its constellation.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 20)

ROCKET LAB SUFFERS ANOMALY DURING LAUNCH, EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE LOST - Rocket Lab suffered an anomaly during the launch of a radar Earth-observation satellite early Tuesday morning (Sept. 19). An Electron rocket carrying a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft for the California company Capella Space lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site Tuesday at 2:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT; 6:55 p.m. local New Zealand time). The Electron's two stages separated as planned about 2.5 minutes after launch. But something went wrong shortly thereafter, ending the flight.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 19)

CHINA LAUNCHES YAOGAN-39 REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE - China on Sunday successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A Long March-2D carrier rocket carrying the satellite Yaogan-39 lifted off at 12:13 p.m. (Beijing Time). Sunday's launch was the 488th mission undertaken by the Long March rocket series.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Sep 18)

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