X-37B SPACE PLANE COMPLETES ITS SIXTH MISSION, LANDS AFTER NEARLY 30 MONTHS IN ORBIT - The X-37B space plane landed Nov. 12 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5:22 a.m. Eastern, setting a new endurance record after spending 908 days on orbit. Its previous record was 780 days. This was the sixth mission of the crewless reusable plane, built by Boeing and jointly operated by the U.S. Space Force and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Known as Orbital Test Vehicle 6, it launched to orbit May 17, 2020, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 13)

TIANZHOU 4 CARGO SPACECRAFT UNDOCKS FROM CHINA'S TIANGONG SPACE STATION - A cargo ship has undocked from China’s space station and will soon burn up in the atmosphere after completing its mission. The uncrewed Tianzhou 4 detached from the docking hub of the Tiangong space station on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT), China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSA, announced (opens in new tab). "After the Tianzhou 4 separated from the orbiting station, we will independently monitor and control the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft. Some related experiments will be carried out in the next step," Wang Saijin, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, told CCTV (opens in new tab).   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 12)

ATLAS 5 LAUNCHES WEATHER SATELLITE, REENTRY TECH DEMO MISSION - An Atlas 5 successfully launched a polar-orbiting weather satellite and a reentry technology demonstrator on the final flight of the vehicle from California. The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:49 a.m. Eastern Nov. 10. A problem loading liquid oxygen in the rocket’s Centaur upper stage delayed the liftoff by 24 minutes, two-thirds of the way into the 36-minute launch window.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 11)

LATEST U.S. WEATHER SATELLITE, SET TO SCAN STORMS LIKE NICOLE, LAUNCHES - As Tropical Storm Nicole neared Florida on Wednesday, a satellite passed 512 miles overhead, scanning for data to help meteorologists understand what was happening beneath the clouds — and better predict what the storm would do next. On Thursday, on the other side of the United States, the satellite’s $1.4 billion successor rocketed into space. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched an Atlas V rocket carrying the JPSS-2 — the second of four satellites in a series known as the Joint Polar Satellite System — at 1:49 a.m. local time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.   More
(Source: The Washington Post - Nov 11)

CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION AFTER SOLAR ARRAY TROUBLE - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, overcoming a deployment failure on one of its two power-generating solar arrays to deliver 4.1 tons of cargo and experiments to the complex. The Cygnus spacecraft, nicknamed the “S.S.” Sally Ride after the first U.S. woman to fly in space, was captured by the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm at 5:20 a.m. EST (1020 GMT) Wednesday as the complex sailed more than 250 miles over the Indian Ocean. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann controlled the robotic arm for the capture of the Cygnus supply ship.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 10)

WATCH CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION EARLY WEDNESDAY - The private Cygnus cargo craft is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) early Wednesday morning (Nov. 9), and you can watch the action live. Cygnus, a robotic freighter built by aerospace giant Northop Grumman, launched toward the ISS on Monday (Nov. 7) from Virginia. If all goes according to plan, astronauts will capture the vehicle using the orbiting lab's robotic arm around 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 9)

TAIWAN TO LAUNCH GNSS-R WEATHER SATELLITE FOR TYPHOON PREDICTION - Taiwan will launch its first indigenously developed meteorological satellite in March 2023, reports Taiwan News. The Triton satellite was designed and made by the National Space Organization (NSPO) over eight years. The satellite has completed testing and is undergoing review. The 250-kg Triton carries GNSS-reflectometry equipment (GNSS-R) — independently developed by NSPO — to collect GNSS signals reflected by the Earth’s surface. Its mission is to research air-sea interaction to help predict typhoons.   More
(Source: GPS World - Nov 8)

SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS ARE AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT FOR ASTRONOMY - Astronomer Rachel Street remembers feeling frightened after a recent planning meeting for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The new flagship telescope, under construction in Chile, will photograph the entire sky every three nights with enough observing power to see a golf ball at the distance of the moon. Its primary project, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, will map the galaxy, inventory objects in the solar system and explore mysterious flashes, bangs and blips throughout the universe. But the flagship telescope may never achieve its goals if the sky fills with bogus stars. New swarms of satellite constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, threaten to outshine the real celestial objects that capture astronomers’ interest—and that humans have admired and pondered for all of history.   More
(Source: Scientific American - Nov 8)

NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S ‘S.S. SALLY RIDE’ CARGO SHIP LAUNCHES ON FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - Using its second-to-last Antares rocket with Russian engines before a redesign to rely on all-U.S. propulsion, Northrop Grumman sent a Cygnus supply ship into orbit from Virginia on Monday to deliver spacewalk equipment, experiments, and fresh treats for the crew on the International Space Station. The 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) Antares rocket lit its twin Russian-made RD-181 engines and climbed away from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia at 5:32:42 a.m. EST (1032:42 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 7)

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