JAPAN TARGETING SUNDAY FOR 2ND TRY AT H3 ROCKET'S DEBUT LAUNCH - Japan's new H3 rocket will soon get a second chance to fly for the first time. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) tried to debut the H3 on Feb. 16, but that attempt was aborted when the vehicle's two solid rocket boosters failed to ignite as planned. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 51 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT AFTER WEATHER DELAYS - SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Friday (March 3) after a series of weather delays. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 51 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday at 1:38 p.m. EST (1838 GMT; 10:38 a.m. local California time). More (Source: Space.com - Mar 4)
SPACEX ROCKET BOOSTS U.S.-RUSSIAN-EMIRATI CREW INTO ORBIT - SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Kennedy Space Center with a four-man crew heading for a six-month stay on the International Space Station, including the first Arab astronaut to fly on a long-duration space mission. NASA’s Crew-6 mission took off from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport and arced northeast to line up with the space station’s orbit. Liftoff occurred at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT) Thursday, with the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine kerosene-fueled engines casting a brilliant orange glow visible across Central Florida. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 4)
HUBBLE TELESCOPE FACES THREAT FROM SPACEX AND OTHER COMPANIES’ SATELLITES - The Hubble Space Telescope, known for recording awe-inspiring images of the cosmos while advancing the field of astronomy, is under threat. Private companies are launching thousands of satellites that are photobombing the telescope — producing long bright streaks and curves of light that can be impossible to remove. And the problem is only getting worse. More (Source: The New York Times - Mar 3)
CHINA’S SHENZHOU-15 ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT SECRETIVE SECOND SPACEWALK - A pair of Chinese astronauts conducted their second extravehicular activity in recent days, with China for the first time providing no advance indication nor details of the event. China’s human spaceflight agency CMSA announced March 2 that Shenzhou-15 mission astronauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu had “recently” carried out a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 3)
CHINA LAUNCHES SECRETIVE HORUS 1 REMOTE-SENSING SATELLITE - China sent a secretive remote-sensing satellite named Horus 1 to orbit on Friday night (Feb. 23) as the country begins to ramp up its launch activity. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 11:01 p.m. on Friday (0401 GMT; 12:01 p.m. Beijing time on Feb. 24). Insulation tiles fell away from the rocket as it rose into the sky before carrying Horus 1 into orbit. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 2)
SPACEX LAUNCHES CREW-6 ASTRONAUT MISSION TO SPACE STATION FOR NASA - SpaceX's Crew-6 mission for NASA launched early Thursday morning (March 2) with a complement of four astronauts, on course to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) in a little over 24 hours. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:34 a.m. (0534 GMT) on Thursday, launching SpaceX's ninth crewed flight to date, and the fourth for the Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour. Riding Endeavour is an international crew that will replace the four Crew-5 astronauts currently inhabiting the ISS. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 2)
HOW MANY SATELLITES CAN WE SAFELY FIT IN EARTH ORBIT? - Just 10 years ago, a mere thousand or so operational satellites may have orbited our planet, but there will be tens or even hundreds of thousands a decade from now. Experts have been sounding alarm bells for years that Earth orbit is getting a bit too crowded. So how many satellites can we actually launch to space before it gets to be too much? More (Source: N2YO.com - Mar 1)
CHINA TO EXPAND ITS SPACE STATION, INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUT SELECTION UNDERWAY - China is planning to expand its Tiangong space station with a multi-functional module to enhance its capabilities. China completed the construction of the three-module Tiangong space station last November, realizing a plan first approved in 1992. The operational phase of the station began with a first crew handover late last year. China plans to keep Tiangong permanently inhabited for at least a decade with crews of three spending six months at a time in orbit. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 28)
Previous Next