BLACKSKY SEEKS TO EXTEND OPERATIONS OF SATELLITES RUNNING ON EMPTY - BlackSky is requesting permission to operate two of its satellites in lower orbits as the spacecraft are running out of propellant. The company filed a request for special temporary authority (STA) with the Federal Communications Commission April 28, asking the FCC to allow the company to continue operations of its Global 7 and Global 8 imaging satellites below the originally authorized lower limit of 385 kilometers. The company is requesting permission to operate the satellites at altitudes as low as 340 kilometers.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 8)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES NASA’S TROPICS SATELLITES FROM NEW ZEALAND - NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) constellation, having switched launch vehicles after losing two satellites aboard an Astra Rocket 3.3 last year, has launched — this time aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on a mission titled “Rocket Like A Hurricane” from Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) in Mahia, New Zealand. Liftoff from LC-1B was on schedule at 13:00 NZST (1:00 UTC) on May 8.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - May 8)

EUROPE WANTS ITS OWN SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATION TO COMPETE WITH SPACEX STARLINK - A group of Europe's major space and telecommunications players will bid for a proposed satellite constellation that could compete with SpaceX's Starlink system. Companies including Airbus Defense and Space, Eutelsat, SES, and Thales Alenia Space announced that they have formed a partnership to respond to the European Commission's call for assistance in creating a future European satellite constellation.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 8)

TWIN TROPICS SATELLITES SET TO BE LOFTED INTO ORBIT - Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s second pair of TROPICS hurricane research satellites, reassigned from Astra following a launch failure last year, has been rescheduled for Sunday (U.S. time) after a delay due to unfavorable weather at the the company’s New Zealand spaceport. Originally planned as a series of six satellites, the first two were lost in an Astra launch failure last year, and the remaining four were subsequently switched to Rocket Lab, which could meet NASA’s requirement to have its TROPICS fleet operational in time for this year’s Northern Hemisphere storm season.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 7)

TIANZHOU-5 CARGO SPACECRAFT SEPARATES FROM SPACE STATION COMBINATION - The Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft, carrying supplies for the China Space Station, separated from the orbiting station combination at 3:26 p.m. Beijing Time on Friday and switched to independent flight, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMS).   More
(Source: CGTN - May 6)

SPACEX WON'T LAUNCH NEXT PRIVATE ASTRONAUT CREW FOR AXIOM SPACE IN EARLY MAY AFTER ALL - The second-ever private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) won't launch in the next few days after all. The Houston-based company Axiom Space had been targeting May 8 for the launch of its Ax-2 mission, which will send four people to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a roughly 10-day stay. But Axiom, SpaceX and NASA (which, as a major ISS partner, must approve such missions) have nixed that plan, pushing the liftoff into the nebulous future.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 6)

WATCH ASTRONAUTS RELOCATE SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE ON SPACE STATION EARLY SATURDAY - Astronauts will fly the SpaceX Dragon capsule Endeavour to a new port on the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday morning (May 6), and you can watch the action live. Endeavour, which carried the four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-6 mission to the ISS in early March, is scheduled to undock from the Harmony module's space-facing port at 7:10 a.m. (1110 GMT) on Saturday and redock to the module's forward-facing port 43 minutes later.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 6)

SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS ARE THREATENING ASTRONOMY. WHAT CAN BE DONE? - Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight. That well-known nursery rhyme has a number of astronomers wishing away the dawn of all those Earth-orbiting megaconstellations that are dotting the sky today and into the future.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 5)

SPACEX ROCKETS PAST 4,000 STARLINK SATELLITES IN ORBIT WITH ANOTHER FALCON 9 LAUNCH - SpaceX surpassed more than 4,000 Starlink internet satellites in orbit with the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and another batch of 56 spacecraft Thursday from Cape Canaveral, the company’s fourth mission in less than a week. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 UTC) Thursday. The predawn mission was SpaceX’s 30th launch of the year, keeping the company on a breakneck pace for nearly 100 rocket flights in 2023, up from 61 missions last year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 5)

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