NASA, FRENCH SWOT SATELLITE OFFERS BIG VIEW OF SMALL OCEAN FEATURES - The international mission collects two-dimensional views of smaller waves and currents that are bringing into focus the ocean’s role in supporting life on Earth. Small things matter, at least when it comes to ocean features like waves and eddies. A recent NASA-led analysis using data from the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite found that ocean features as small as a mile across potentially have a larger impact on the movement of nutrients and heat in marine ecosystems than previously thought.   More
(Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) - May 16)

AXIOM MISSION 4 DELAYED DUE TO DRAGON CAPSULE READINESS - The debut of the fifth and planned final Dragon spacecraft is going to take a bit longer. The vehicle, tail number C213, will won’t be ready to support the flight of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station until next month. The fourth private astronaut mission was most recently scheduled to launch no earlier than May 29 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, in an update from the space agency, those plans shifted to a launch targeting June 8 at the earliest.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 16)

CHINA LAUNCHES TRIO OF YAOGAN REMOTE-SENSING SATELLITES TO ORBIT - China launched a a trio of satellites into orbit over the weekend. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China on Sunday (May 11) at 9:27 a.m. EDT (1327 GMT; 9:27 p.m. in Beijing). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced the successful launch, confirming the payload as Yaogan 40 Group 02, a trio of Earth surveillance satellites.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 15)

CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST OF 2,800 SATELLITES FOR AI SPACE COMPUTING CONSTELLATION - China launched 12 satellites early Wednesday for an on-orbit computing project led by startup ADA Space and Zhejiang Lab. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 12:12 a.m. Eastern (0412 UTC) May 14 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Insulation tiles fell away from the payload fairing as the rocket climbed into a clear blue sky above the spaceport.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 15)

LIVE 4K VIDEO FROM SPACE! SEE 24/7 VIEWS OF EARTH FROM THE ISS VIA SEN CAMERAS - Click play, go full-screen, lean back and enjoy. That's how easy it is now to get lost in the absolutely stunning scape that is our planet Earth from space as it streams live before your eyes. Sen, a company based in London, provides views of Earth from orbit, with the hopes of making an experience usually reserved for astronauts a little more accessible to the rest of humanity. It's live video of Earth from space, 24 hours a day and seven days a week.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 475TH FALCON 9 ROCKET TO DATE ON AFTERNOON STARLINK FLIGHT - SpaceX returned to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday afternoon with its Falcon 9 rocket. The company launched of its latest batch of Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites on the 475th Falcon 9 rocket to date. The Starlink 6-67 mission added 28 more spacecraft to the more than 7,400 currently in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex happened at 12:38 p.m. (1638 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 15)

CHINA MAKES HIGH-SPEED LASER LINKS IN ORBIT - A commercial Chinese firm has demonstrated ultrafast data laser transmission between two satellites, marking a step forward for the country’s communications megaconstellation plans. Laser Starcom, a commercial aerospace firm established in Beijing in 2020, announced in March that it had achieved a 400-gigabit-per-second communications link between satellites. Its two satellites, Guangchuan 01 and 02, launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) in November last year on a commercial Zhuque-2 rocket developed by the Beijing-based Landspace company.    More
(Source: IEEE Spectrum - May 14)

SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT ON RECORD-BREAKING 28TH FLIGHT - A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 28 of the company's Starlink internet satellites launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday (May 13) at 1:02 a.m. EDT (0502 GMT). It was the 28th liftoff for this particular rocket's first stage, breaking the reuse mark the same booster set on April 13. On that 27th launch, the rocket lofted 27 Starlink craft — a bit of synchronicity that doesn't seem coincidental given the number of payloads on Flight 28.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 14)

AST SPACEMOBILE TO LAUNCH 243 SATELLITES - AST SpaceMobile (AST), a would-be supplier of direct-to-consumer cellular telephony from space, has told the FCC that it will have 243 of its BlueBird satellites in orbit by the end of 2028. The schedule will see 100 working in orbit by the end of next year, then 72 additional craft each year until 2028 AST has five preliminary satellites already in orbit and will launch the first of its larger BlueBirds in June on an Indian rocket.   More
(Source: SatNews - May 13)

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