FRANK RUBIO’S FIRST SPACEFLIGHT WILL TURN INTO THE LONGEST MISSION BY A US ASTRONAUT - Astronaut Frank Rubio traveled to the International Space Station on September 21, 2022, for what he thought would be a six-month mission. But he’ll wind up staying in space for over a year — breaking the record for the longest mission conducted by a US astronaut. Rubio will return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft no earlier than September 27, NASA officials said Wednesday, meaning he will have logged a total of at least 371 days in orbit. That tour of duty will beat the previous record of 355 days set by US astronaut Mark Vande Hei in 2022.    More
(Source: CNN - Apr 3)

CHINA LAUNCHES 4 INSAR SATELLITES AND NEW YAOGAN RECONNAISSANCE SAT - China conducted a pair of launches across Thursday and Friday, sending interferometric synthetic aperture radar and reconnaissance satellites in orbit. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 6:50 a.m. Eastern, March 30, carrying four PIESAT-1 constellation satellites. The satellites are named PIESAT-1 (A-01) and PIESAT-1-B (01 through 03). The four X-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) satellites will orbit in a hub and spoke formation, with PIESAT-1 (A-01) as the hub.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 2)

SEIZED PROPERTY AT BAIKONUR THREATENS SOYUZ-5 PROGRAM - In early March 2023, reports began to circulate that Kazakhstan had seized the property of Roscosmos at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This has raised questions regarding launch operations from the spaceport, including important crew and cargo logistics flights for the International Space Station (ISS). However, it is likely that the development of the Soyuz-5 rocket, as well as liquid oxygen and nitrogen production, are larger concerns as a result of the recent legal action.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 1)

VIRGIN ORBIT LAYS OFF MOST EMPLOYEES - Virgin Orbit announced late March 30 it was laying off the vast majority of its employees after failing to raise additional funding, putting the launch company’s future in jeopardy. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Virgin Orbit announced it was laying off approximately 675 employees, or 85% of its workforce. The company said the layoff was necessary “to reduce expenses in light of the Company’s inability to secure meaningful funding.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 1)

SPACEX ABORTS LAUNCH WITH INITIAL SATELLITES FOR SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY - SpaceX is now scheduled to launch a batch of 10 communications and missile tracking satellites on the Tranche 0 Flight 1 mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA) on Friday, March 31, 2023, at approximately 7:29 AM PDT (14:29 UTC). A first attempt on Thursday was aborted at T-3 seconds. The flight will take off from launch site SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellites will be placed into a 1,000 km orbit, inclined 80 degrees.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 31)

FIRST LAUNCH FOR PENTAGON’S OWN MEGA-CONSTELLATION SET FOR THURSDAY - The U.S. military’s Space Development Agency, established in 2019 to fast-track new national security capabilities in orbit, plans to launch the first 10 satellites for a constellation of hundreds of missile tracking and data relay spacecraft Thursday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California. SDA’s fleet of spacecraft, each smaller and cheaper than the military’s existing missile warning satellites, will improve the Pentagon’s ability to detect and track emerging threats like attacks with hypersonic missiles, then deliver the tracking data directly to ground, air, or naval forces using existing tactical radio networks. U.S. and allied forces could then shoot down the enemy missile.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 30)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 56 STARLINK SATELLITES, LANDS ROCKET AT SEA - SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea today (March 29). A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 56 Starlink satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 4:01 p.m. EDT (2001 GMT). The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth as planned, acing a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the Instructions about 8.5 minutes after launch.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 30)

ISRAEL LAUNCHES NEW OFEK-13 SPY SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - Israel successfully launched the “Ofek-13” spy satellite into space early Wednesday morning, the Defense Ministry said. The satellite, the latest in a line of Israeli observation assets in space, will provide the military with better-quality images than its predecessors. “The ‘Ofek-13’ satellite is a [synthetic-aperture radar] observation satellite with advanced capabilities,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement after the launch.   More
(Source: The Times of Israel - Mar 30)

ASTRONAUT SULTAN ALNEYADI SEES 16 SUNSETS DAILY ON THE SPACE STATION. HOW WILL HE OBSERVE RAMADAN - For centuries, a setting sun has signaled the end of fasting rituals on holidays such as Ramadan and Yom Kippur, a cue to tuck into a delicious meal after a full day of abstaining from food and drink. But what if the sun’s clockwork were to suddenly change, as it does for astronauts riding aboard the International Space Station? The orbiting laboratory whips around the Earth at about 17,000 miles per hour (27,600 kilometers per hour), giving passengers 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.    More
(Source: CNN - Mar 29)

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