SPACEX DRAGON CARGO CAPSULE HEADS HOME FROM SPACE STATION - A robotic SpaceX cargo craft began its journey home to Earth on Monday afternoon (Jan. 9). An uncrewed Dragon capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on schedule Monday at 5:05 p.m. EST (2205 GMT). At the time, the two spacecraft were flying at an altitude of 258 miles (415 kilometers), over a location southeast of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, NASA commentators said during a livestream of the event.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 10)

BLUEWALKER 3, AN ENORMOUS AND BRIGHT COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE, IS GENUINELY ALARMING ASTRONOMERS - The night sky is a shared wilderness. On a dark night, away from the city lights, you can see the stars in the same way as your ancestors did centuries ago. You can see the Milky Way and the constellations associated with stories of mythical hunters, sisters and journeys. But like any wilderness, the night sky can be polluted. Since Sputnik 1 in 1957, thousands of satellites and pieces of space junk have been launched into orbit.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 9)

FIRST ROCKET LAUNCH OF THE NEW YEAR LEAVES WENCHANG FOR SPACE - China launched a Long March 7A rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Monday morning, sending three satellites into space as part of its first space mission of 2023. The colossal 60.1-meter rocket blasted off at 6:00 am from the coastal launch center, and soon deployed the Shijian 23 and Shiyan 22A and 22B experimental satellites into orbit, according to a news release from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the leading national space contractor.   More
(Source: China Daily - Jan 9)

DEFUNCT NASA SATELLITE TO REENTER - A defunct NASA satellite, launched nearly four decades ago, is predicted to reenter late Jan. 8 with a very small risk to people on the ground. NASA said Jan. 6 that the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) satellite, launched in 1984 and shut down in 2005, will reenter Jan. 8. At the time, NASA estimated a reentry at 6:40 p.m. Eastern, plus or minus 17 hours, based on data from the U.S. Space Force.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 8)

CHINA TOPS US IN DEFENSE-RELATED SATELLITES ORBITED IN 2022: REPORT - While the US led the world in the total number of space launches in 2022 with China coming in second, a new report calls China the winner for the most defense-related payloads. “China is replacing Russia as the No. 2 space power,” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., and author of the “Space Activities in 2022” report [PDF], told Breaking Defense Thursday. McDowell is also the author of the online newsletter “Jonathan’s Space Report,” which chronicles worldwide space launches.   More
(Source: https://breakingdefense.com/2023/01/china-tops-us-in-defense-related-satellites-orbited-in-2022-report/ - Jan 7)

VIRGIN ORBIT SET FOR HISTORIC SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM BRITAIN ON MONDAY - The first orbital satellite to set off for space from western Europe will be launched from Cornwall in southwest England on Monday. Virgin Orbit (VORB.O), part-owned by billionaire Richard Branson, who founded the Virgin Atlantic airline, plans to use a modified Boeing 747 with a rocket attached under its wing for the first time outside the company's base in the United States.   More
(Source: Reuters - Jan 7)

OLD NASA SATELLITE FALLING FROM SKY THIS WEEKEND, LOW THREAT - A 38-year-old retired NASA satellite is about to fall from the sky. NASA said Friday the chance of wreckage falling on anybody is “very low.” Most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) satellite will burn up upon reentry, according to NASA. But some pieces are expected to survive. The space agency put the odds of injury from falling debris at about 1-in-9,400. The science satellite is expected to come down Sunday night, give or take 17 hours, according to the Defense Department.    More
(Source: AP News - Jan 7)

MORE AMATEUR RADIO ASTRONAUTS HEAD FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Three of the four new astronauts on February's planned launch of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are amateur radio operators. The four crew members that comprise the SpaceX Crew-6 mission pose for a photo during a training session on the crew access arm at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida. From left are, Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, Mission Specialist Sultan Al Nedayi, and Commander Stephen Bowen. Photo Courtesy of SpaceX.   More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 7)

NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACEX CARGO CRAFT STATION DEPARTURE - A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station on Monday, Jan. 9, returning scientific research samples and hardware to Earth for NASA. The agency will provide live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure on NASA Television, the NASA app, and online at 4:45 p.m. EST. Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will send commands at 5 p.m. for Dragon to undock from the zenith port of the station’s Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station.   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 7)

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