MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN SATELLITE BREAKS UP IN ORBIT, GENERATING CLOUD OF DEBRIS - A mysterious Russian satellite broke apart early last month, creating a cloud of debris that could linger in Earth orbit for a while. The Kosmos 2499 spacecraft disintegrated on the night of Jan. 3, according to the U.S. Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron (18th SDS), which tracks human-made objects in orbit. The breakup event generated at least 85 pieces of trackable debris, 18th SDS said via Twitter on Monday (opens in new tab) (Feb. 6). That cloud of space junk is orbiting 726 miles (1,169 kilometers) above Earth — so high that it'll likely take a century or more (opens in new tab) for atmosphere drag to bring it down.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 9)

RUSSIAN PROGRESS RESUPPLY SHIP LAUNCHES ON FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, boosting a Progress resupply ship into orbit in pursuit of the International Space Station with more than 5,500 pounds of cargo, fuel, water, and air. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Site 31 launch complex at Baikonur at 1:15:36 a.m. EST (0615:36 GMT) Thursday to kick off a two-day flight to the space station. The three-stage Soyuz rocket released the Progress MS-22 supply ship into orbit about nine minutes into the mission, then the cargo freighter unfurled solar arrays and navigation antennas.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 9)

NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH, DOCKING - NASA will provide live coverage of the launch and docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 68 crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Progress 83 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 1:15 a.m. EST (11:15 a.m. Baikonur time) Thursday, Feb. 9, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Coverage will begin at 1 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 9)

VIRGIN ORBIT NARROWS DOWN CAUSE OF LAUNCHERONE FAILURE - Virgin Orbit’s chief executive said Feb. 7 that a problem with a relatively inexpensive part may be linked to the failure of the company’s latest launch last month. Speaking on a panel at the SmallSat Symposium in Mountain View, California, Dan Hart said it was still premature to formally declare the root cause of the failed Jan. 9 flight of the company’s LauncherOne rocket on the “Start Me Up” mission from Spaceport Cornwall in England.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 8)

SPACEX LAUNCHES BIG TELECOM SATELLITE, LANDS ROCKET ON SHIP AT SEA - SpaceX launched a commercial communications satellite to orbit on Monday (Feb. 6) and landed a rocket on a ship at sea. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Amazonas Nexus satellite for the Spanish company Hispasat lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday at 8:32 p.m. EST (0332 GMT on Feb. 7).    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 7)

SPANISH-OWNED COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - A nearly five-ton satellite for the Spanish company Hispasat is ready for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a mission to provide in-flight internet and other communications services over the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean. Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite, built in France by Thales Alenia Space, is scheduled for launch during a four-hour window opening at 5:32 p.m. EST (2132 GMT) Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX will deploy the satellite into an elongated “super synchronous” transfer orbit stretching more than 30,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) above Earth.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)

WEATHER DELAYS SPACEX LAUNCH WITH HISPASAT’S AMAZONAS NEXUS - SpaceX is set to launch a satellite aimed at providing communications for all of the Americas–including shipping corridors and Greenland. Due to weather, the Amazonas Nexus mission is now scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) on Monday, Feb. 6. A 90% chance of favorable weather is forecasted for Monday. The launch window opens at 5:32 PM EDT (22:32 UTC) and extends for four hours until 9:32 PM EDT (02:32 UTC on Feb. 6).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 6)

RUSSIAN ELEKTRO-L WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCHED ON PROTON-M - At 09:12 UTC on Feb. 5, 2023, a Proton-M launched from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the fourth Elektro-L satellite to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). Sunday’s launch is the first of up to three Proton launches planned for 2023, with the next being Olymp-K 2 scheduled for March. The Proton-M launcher is nearing retirement, with a limited number of vehicles left available to launch over the next few years.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 6)

RUSSIAN ELEKTRO-L WEATHER SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ON PROTON-M - At 09:12 UTC on Feb. 5, 2023, a Proton-M will launch from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the fourth Elektro-L satellite to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). The Proton-M launch vehicle is serial number 93568 with Blok DM-03 upper stage number 7L. Sunday’s launch is the first of up to three Proton launches planned for 2023, with the next being Olymp-K 2 scheduled for March. The Proton-M launcher is nearing retirement, with a limited number of vehicles left available to launch over the next few years   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 5)

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