SYRACUSE 4B MILITARY SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - The SYRACUSE 4B communications satellite, built by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, has been successfully launched from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It was the last launch of Ariane 5, the European heavy launcher. SYRACUSE 4B, along with SYRACUSE 4A already in orbit, constitutes the space segment of SYRACUSE IV, the fourth generation secure military satellite communications system for the French Armament General Directorate (DGA – Direction Générale de l’Armement), the French Air and Space force and the French Space Command, built by the industrial consortium formed by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space.   More
(Source: Joint Forces - Jul 7)

SPACEX STARLINK SATELLITES HAD TO MAKE 25,000 COLLISION-AVOIDANCE MANEUVERS IN JUST 6 MONTHS — AND IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE - Staggering growth in Starlink collision-avoidance maneuvers in the past six months is sparking concerns over the long-term sustainability of satellite operations as thousands of new spacecraft are poised to launch into orbit in the coming years. SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites were forced to swerve more than 25,000 times between Dec. 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023 to avoid potentially dangerous approaches to other spacecraft and orbital debris, according to a report filed by SpaceX with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 30.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 7)

ENDING AN ERA, EUROPE LAUNCHES ITS FINAL ARIANE 5 ROCKET - Europe’s venerable Ariane 5 rocket blasted off on its 117th and final flight Wednesday, successfully boosting two communications satellites into orbit but leaving the European space program without a large satellite launcher of its own until a delayed successor comes on line. The 165-foot-tall Ariane 5, equipped with two strap-on solid-fuel boosters and two hydrogen-fueled core stages, blasted off from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana, at 6 p.m. EDT, knifing through a cloud deck as it arced away to the east over the Atlantic Ocean.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 6)

IF THERE WERE A WAR IN SPACE, DEBRIS WOULD DESTROY ALL REMAINING SATELLITES IN ABOUT 40 YEARS - On one particular day in 2021, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS must have felt a pin-prick of fear and uncertainty. On November 15th of that year, Russia fired an anti-satellite missile at one of its own defunct military satellites, Tselina-D. The target weighed about 1,750 kg, and when the missile struck its target, the satellite exploded into a cloud of hazardous debris. NASA woke the crew on the International Space Station in the middle of the night and told them to take precautions and prepare for a possible impact...   More
(Source: Universe Today - Jul 6)

NASA INVITES MEDIA TO NEXT SPACEX COMMERCIAL CREW SPACE STATION LAUNCH - Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s seventh rotational mission of a SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station. The earliest targeted launch date for the NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission is Tuesday, Aug. 15, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 6)

RADIO NOISE FROM SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS COULD INTERFERE WITH ASTRONOMERS - Large satellite constellations can unintentionally generate electromagnetic noise, creating an additional source of interference for radio astronomers. Astronomers announced July 5 that they detected radio emissions at relatively low frequencies from dozens of SpaceX Starlink satellites as they passed over a Dutch radio observatory. The emissions, at frequencies between 110 and 188 megahertz, are different from the deliberate transmissions from the satellites used to provide broadband internet access between 10.7 and 12.7 gigahertz.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 6)

NORTH KOREA SATELLITE HAD 'NO MILITARY UTILITY' - SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's military said on Wednesday it had retrieved the wreckage of a North Korean spy satellite that plunged into the sea in May after a botched launch and found it had no meaningful military use as a reconnaissance satellite. The military last month also recovered parts of the rocket used in the failed launch; the booster and payload crashed into the sea soon after takeoff.   More
(Source: Reuters - Jul 5)

EUROPE’S WORKHORSE ARIANE 5 ROCKET TO RETIRE AFTER 27 YEARS SERVICE - Europe’s iconic Ariane 5 rocket, with its liquid hydrogen-fueled core stage and solid rocket boosters, has guaranteed Europe’s access to space, providing a unique capacity for launching satellites and spacecraft into precise orbits over almost three decades. Its long run comes to an end when the final Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from Kourou, French Guiana, no earlier than July 5, carrying a French military communications satellite and a German communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 5)

THE UK'S ODIN SPACE JUST ACED ITS 1ST SPACE JUNK TRACKING SYSTEM TEST IN ORBIT - A new method of tracking tiny pieces of space junk has passed its first demonstration test in orbit, according to its builders ODIN Space of London. Over the past two years, ODIN has been developing and qualifying technology to detect and track space junk that is too small to register using existing methods. The company's first demonstration sensor was integrated into the D-Orbit ION satellite, which hitched a ride to orbit as part of SpaceX's Transporter-8 mission that launched June 12.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 5)

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