VIASAT REPORTS SECOND SATELLITE MALFUNCTION IN A MATTER OF WEEKS - A second Viasat communications satellite is malfunctioning in orbit, this time from the fleet of recently acquired U.K.-based Inmarsat, the company said on Thursday. The I6 F2 satellite, which Inmarsat launched in February, suffered a failure with its power system while climbing in orbit to where it planned to operate as a backup. Airbus manufactured the satellite and is, alongside Viasat, assessing whether the satellite can be recovered for use.    More
(Source: CNBC - Aug 25)

NORTH KOREA SAYS ITS SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH HAS FAILED, AGAIN - North Korea’s second attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit failed Thursday due to a malfunction in the third-stage of the rocket, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The unsuccessful launch came after North Korea’s first attempt failed in May, when the new satellite vehicle rocket Chollima-1 crashed into the sea soon after liftoff. Pyongyang will try another launch in October, KCNA said.    More
(Source: CNN - Aug 24)

WEST COAST FALCON 9 LAUNCHES SPACEX’S 100TH STARLINK MISSION - After delays caused by Hurricane Hilary, SpaceX launched its 100th Starlink mission on Tuesday. A Falcon 9 carrying 21 second-generation Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:37 a.m. PDT (5:37 a.m. EDT / 0937 UTC). It was the 100th Falcon 9 with the primary mission of deploying Starlink satellites since the first in 2019. Based on statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains a space flight database, Tuesday’s launch brings the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 4,983.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 23)

RUSSIAN PROGRESS CARGO SPACECRAFT LAUNCHES TOWARD THE ISS - A robotic Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launched toward the International Space Station tonight (Aug. 22), carrying 3 tons of supplies toward the orbiting lab. The Progress 85 vehicle lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight at 9:08 p.m. EDT (0108 GMT on Aug. 23). If all goes according to plan, the freighter will arrive at the orbiting lab on Thursday (Aug. 24) at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT on Aug. 25). You can watch the rendezvous and docking here on Space.com when the time comes.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 23)

CREW-7 MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION GIVEN GREEN LIGHT FOR LAUNCH BY NASA, PARTNERS - NASA, SpaceX and its international partners meet at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday and gave the go ahead for the launch of the seventh operational Crew Dragon mission to the space station. The three astronauts and one cosmonaut of the Crew 7 mission are set to launch aboard Crew Dragon Endurance on Friday, Aug. 25 at 3:49 a.m. EDT (0749 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 22)

NORTH KOREA PLANS SECOND SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH IN COMING DAYS: JAPAN - North Korea has informed Japan it plans to launch a military satellite in the coming days, less than three months after its first effort ended in failure when the satellite crashed into the sea. The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Pyongyang had informed Japan of the planned launch, and that Kishida had instructed his government to work with the United States, South Korea and other nations to urge its cancellation.   More
(Source: Aljazeera - Aug 22)

OVERVIEW OF CHINA’S TIANGONG SPACE STATION - As a manned spacecraft operating in orbit for a long time, a space station embodies a country’s scientific and technological strength comprehensively. China’s manned space project was approved in 1992 with a 3-step strategic plan, and building a space station is the final goal of this plan. In September 2010, China’s manned space station project was officially established. After 11 years of unremitting efforts, on 2021 April 29, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched into orbit by the carrier rocket Long March-5B at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan.   More
(Source: SpaceRef - Aug 21)

MULTIPLE REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE LAUNCHED FROM CHINA, AS LAUNCH CADENCE INCREASES - With over 35 launches in 2023, China is on its way to returning to its high launch cadence after a slow start to the year. Launches in the past few days include two rockets outside the Chang Zheng family and the mighty Chang Zheng 3 B/E’s return as it flew for the fourth time this year. The Chinese startup LandSpace has released a short documentary about its rocket and the build process over the past five years. Part of the released footage shows the initial maiden launch of the methane rocket and how the rocket started to tumble once the vernier engines misbehaved. This problem ultimately caused the failure of flight one.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Aug 21)

FLAGSHIP CHINESE SPACE TELESCOPE TO ORBIT WITH SPACE STATION - China is currently developing a large-scale space-survey telescope that is expected to bring pioneering scientific results after it is placed in orbit alongside the country's space station, a spokesperson of the China Manned Space Agency said Friday.   More
(Source: CGTN - Aug 20)

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