INMARSAT-6 F2 SATELLITE COMPLETES THREE-DAY TRIP TO SPACEX LAUNCH SITE - Inmarsat’s latest geostationary telecoms satellite has arrived at its Florida launch site after a three-day journey from Airbus’ testing facilities in France. An Airbus Beluga plane carrying the 5,500-kilogram Inmarsat-6 F2 (I-6 F2) satellite landed at the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 27, Airbus Space Systems spokesperson Jeremy Close said, following refueling stops in Canada and Virginia. It is the second time a Beluga has flown a large satellite across the Atlantic to Florida since Airbus announced its outsized freight transportation service early last year.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 31)

CREW GETS READY FOR THURSDAY SPACEWALK, KEEPS UP SPACE RESEARCH - he Expedition 68 crew kicked off Monday preparing for a spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation system on Thursday. The orbital residents also researched a variety of space phenomena and packed a cargo craft ahead of its upcoming departure. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) began their day reviewing procedures for a spacewalk set to begin at 8:15 a.m. EST on Thursday. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/01/30/crew-gets-ready-for-thursday-spacewalk-keeps-up-space-research/   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 31)

SPACEX CREW DRAGON VEHICLE COULD BE USED TO EVACUATE ISS ASTRONAUTS IN AN EMERGENCY - A SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS) could be used to transport extra crew members back to Earth in the event of an emergency, NASA announced. Following a coolant leak in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the ISS in December, international space agencies including NASA and Roscosmos worked together to come up with a plan to safely transport crew members home. The plan they settled on was to use a replacement Soyuz craft that will be launched in February.   More
(Source: The Verge - Jan 31)

SPACEX LAUNCHES HEAVIEST PAYLOAD ON FALCON 9 ROCKET - A Falcon 9 rocket thundered off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral before dawn Thursday with 56 Starlink internet satellites, setting a record for the heaviest cargo ever flown on a SpaceX rocket at more than 38,000 pounds. The mission was the fifth launch by SpaceX so far this year, and the 69th launch with a primary purpose of placing Starlink internet satellites into orbit. With the 56 fresh spacecraft launched Thursday, SpaceX has deployed 3,773 Starlink satellites, with plans to add thousands more in the coming years.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 30)

WATCH SPACEX LAUNCH 49 STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES TO ORBIT MONDAY AFTER DELAY - SpaceX plans to launch another set of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit on Monday (Jan. 30), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 49 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Monday from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:34 a.m. EST (1634 GMT; 8:34 a.m. local California time).    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 30)

INDONESIA’S SURYA SATELLITE-1 SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOYED FROM THE ISS - This CubeSat was developed by the team of Surya University from the Republic of Indonesia and was selected as the winner in the third round of KiboCUBE program that is run by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).   More
(Source: SatNews - Jan 29)

SATELLITE BILLED AS THE ‘FUTURE GPS’ BEGINS KEY TESTS - L3Harris announced Jan. 26 it delivered the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) to the U.S. Air Force and the spacecraft is now undergoing final tests in preparation for a planned launch in late 2023. NTS-3 is an experiment funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory that will broadcast positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals from geostationary Earth orbit. The goal is to demonstrate next-generation PNT technologies for the U.S. military and provide an alternative to GPS.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 28)

CHINA WANTS TO LAUNCH OVER 200 SPACECRAFT IN 2023 - China last year performed 64 orbital rocket launches and finished building its own space station, but the country is planning an even busier year for 2023. China's main space contractor and Long March rocket maker, CASC, announced (opens in new tab)on Jan. 18 that it is planning more than 60 launches this year, after carrying out 54 missions throughout 2022.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 28)

SPACEX LAUNCHES HEAVIEST PAYLOAD ON REUSED ROCKET'S 9TH FLIGHT - SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket lifted its heaviest payload ever into low Earth orbit on Thursday morning (Jan. 26), launching 56 new Starlink internet-beaming satellites. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster that propelled the mission during its ascent through Earth's atmosphere had been used eight times previously, including on two crewed missions to the International Space Station (Crew 3 and Crew 4, which launched in November 2021 and April 2022 respectively).   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 27)

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