NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACEX CARGO CRAFT STATION DEPARTURE - A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station on Saturday, April 15, returning scientific research samples and hardware to Earth for NASA. The agency will provide live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure starting at 10:45 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and online at: https://www.nasa.gov/live Following commands from ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, Dragon will undock at 11:05 a.m. from the forward port of the station’s Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station. More (Source: NASA - Apr 14)
SPACE FORCE TO PROPOSE PLAN TO ACQUIRE HIGH-CAPACITY SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS - In an effort to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of U.S. military services, the Space Force will propose a new plan to acquire high-capacity satellite communications. Senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are set to be briefed on this plan in the coming weeks, said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 13)
COSMIC 'HIGHWAY CODE' COULD HELP COMBAT THE SPACE JUNK THREAT - A coalition of space experts is urging governments across the globe and space sector operators to adopt a new set of guidelines that are aimed at tackling the risk of space junk. The Space Safety Coalition (opens in new tab) lays out best practices for the sustainability of space operations in light of a burgeoning number of satellites being launched into space. Among the recommendations is a "rules of the road"-style guidebook for maneuvering spacecraft to avoid space junk-generating collisions. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 13)
S KOREA TO CONDUCT 1ST LAUNCH OF COMMERCIAL-GRADE SATELLITE - South Korea plans to conduct its first launch of a commercial-grade satellite aboard a domestically built rocket next month as part of its space development program, officials said Tuesday. South Korea's officials say its homegrown Nuri space launch vehicle has no military purposes. But some experts say the development of such rockets would eventually help the country acquire technologies needed to build bigger missiles and launch reconnaissance satellites amid animosities with rival North Korea. More (Source: USNews.com - Apr 12)
LOOK AT THIS AWESOME PHOTO OF EARTH FROM AN INDIAN OCEAN SATELLITE - New images from an Indian ocean-studying satellite capture Earth's continents and seas in stunning detail from space. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its Earth Observation Satellite-06 (EOS-06) to space last November. EOS-06 is the third spacecraft in India's Oceansat series and is equipped with three science instruments that are designed to monitor sea surface temperatures and other ocean characteristics for at least five years. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 12)
SPACEX EYEING 3RD WEEK OF APRIL FOR STARSHIP ORBITAL LAUNCH, ELON MUSK SAYS - SpaceX's huge Starship vehicle could launch on its first-ever orbital test flight by the end of next week, if all goes according to plan. SpaceX has been gearing up for the pioneering flight for months, and the prep work has accelerated recently. Last week, for example, technicians stacked the spacebound Starship, placing its Ship 24 upper-stage prototype atop its Booster 7 first stage on the orbital launch mount at Starbase, SpaceX's South Texas facility. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 11)
NORTHROP GRUMMAN DEVELOPING MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE FOR 2025 LAUNCH - Northrop Grumman is developing a geostationary communications satellite that will compete against a Boeing design in a military procurement estimated to be worth $2.4 billion. Boeing and Northrop Grumman were selected in 2020 by the U.S. Space Force to develop Protected Tactical Satcom prototype payloads, known as PTS. Both payloads passed government design reviews and were cleared for on-orbit demonstrations planned in 2025. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 10)
NASA REVEALS WHAT MADE AN ENTIRE STARLINK SATELLITE FLEET GO DOWN - On March 23, sky observers marveled at a gorgeous display of northern and southern lights. It was a reminder that when our Sun gets active, it can spark a phenomenon called “space weather.” Aurorae are among the most benign effects of this phenomenon. At the other end of the space weather spectrum are solar storms that can knock out satellites. The folks at Starlink found that out the hard way in February 2022. More (Source: Inverse - Apr 9)
SPACEX LAUNCHES INTELSAT SATELLITE WITH NASA AIR QUALITY SENSOR - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral shortly after midnight Friday with Intelsat 40e, a communications satellite destined to beam broadband internet signals to airplane and cruise ship passengers across North America while hosting a NASA instrument package to monitor air pollution. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket fired away from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 UTC) Friday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 8)
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