CHINA LAUNCHES NEW EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE - China sent a new Earth observation satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 3:37 p.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time). The satellite, Gaofen-11 04, was launched aboard a Long March-4B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully. It is an Earth observation satellite that will be used in diverse fields, including land resources surveying, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief. More (Source: Xinhua - Dec 28)
10 WEIRD THINGS ABOUT SPACEX'S STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES - SpaceX's Starlink satellites are among the most well-known spacecraft in the world. There are currently over 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, and SpaceX plans to launch many more. The satellites are primarily designed to provide broadband internet to remote or underserved locations, yet there are many other uses for the revolutionary constellation both planned and already in use. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 28)
NEW SPACECRAFT, NEW FIRSTS, NEW HARDWARE – INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WRAPS UP A BUSY AND HISTORIC 2022 - 2022 has marked another busy chapter for the International Space Station (ISS). Along with its constant plethora of scientific and engineering experiments, the Station saw the first docking of Starliner, the all-private Axiom-1 mission, and new hardware installed to increase the lifespan of humanity’s collaborative space laboratory. The year onboard the Station began during Expedition 66, followed by Expedition 67, and has continued with the ongoing Expedition 68. “Expeditions” are approximately 6-month time periods on the ISS that begin and end with certain crew rotations. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 26)
SENATE PASSES ORBIT DEBRIS CLEANUP BILL - The Senate passed legislation that would direct NASA to establish a program to remove orbital debris, but supporters of the bill will likely have to try again in the next Congress to enact it. The Senate passed by unanimous consent late Dec. 21 the Orbital Sustainability, or ORBITS, Act. The bill was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee, in September. The bill was co-sponsored by the ranking member of the subcommittee, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) along with the chair and ranking member of the full committee, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 25)
EUROPE’S FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCH COMPLEX TO BE INAUGURATED IN NORTHERN SWEDEN - After years of preparation and construction, European mainland’s first orbital launch complex, Spaceport Esrange, will be inaugurated. The event will take place in the city of Kiruna in conjunction with Sweden taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. For Europe, the new orbital launch facility at Esrange is a long-awaited critical asset. Today, ten countries in the world have the capability to launch satellites. Spaceport Esrange will offer an independent European gateway to Space, supplementing and strengthening current European capabilities in French Guiana. More (Source: Satnews - Dec 24)
CHINA'S SPACE STATION RELEASES SMALL TEST SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - China has released a small test satellite into orbit from its recently completed Tiangong space station. The satellite was released from a deployer on the Tianzhou 5 cargo ship, which is currently docked at Tiangong. Tianzhou 5 launched on Nov. 12 with the primary mission of delivering supplies to the space station to support the three Shenzhou 15 mission astronauts but also carried a number of cubesats. The 26.5-pound (12 kilograms) satellite designated XW-4 (CAS-10) was released at 9:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 17 (0130 GMT on Dec. 18). The satellite's radio and camera can be used by amateur radio operators on the ground. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 24)
ASTRONAUTS UNFURL FOURTH ROLL-OUT SOLAR ARRAY OUTSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Another roll-out solar array was installed and deployed by astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada outside the International Space Station on on a spacewalk Thursday, a day later than previously planned after the space station needed to dodge a piece of space junk. Rubio and Cassada continued a multi-year upgrade to the space station’s electrical system, adding the fourth of six planned roll-out solar arrays to the station’s power truss. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 24)
NASA, RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY EVALUATE NEED FOR SPACE STATION RESCUE MISSION - NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos are evaluating if they will need to mount a rescue mission to the International Space Station after discovering a coolant leak from the Russian Soyuz spacecraft currently docked at the station. The leaking spacecraft, designated Soyuz MS-22, carried U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio, along with cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev to the International Space Station on Sept. 21. More (Source: UPI - Dec 23)
RUSSIA MULLS EARLY RETURN OF SPACE STATION CREW AFTER SOYUZ CAPSULE LEAK - Russia's space agency said it is considering a "rescue" plan to send an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) to bring home three crew members ahead of schedule, after their Soyuz capsule sprang a coolant leak while docked to the orbiting outpost. Roscosmos and NASA officials said at a news conference on Thursday they continue to investigate how the coolant line of the capsule's external radiator sustained a tiny puncture last week, just as two cosmonauts were preparing for a routine spacewalk. More (Source: Reuters - Dec 23)
Previous Next
