SPACEX HAS NARROW WINDOW FOR AX-2 LAUNCH - paceX and Axiom Space will have only two opportunities this month to launch a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station before having to wait potentially several months before getting another shot. At a May 15 briefing, officials from the two companies as well as NASA announced they had completed a flight readiness review for the Ax-2 mission to the station, giving their approval to proceed with a May 21 launch. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for 5:37 p.m. Eastern that day, setting up a docking May 22 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 17)
SATELLITE BOOM SPARKS CONCERNS OVER NEW PROBLEMS IN SPACE - Space is vast. But are certain parts of space in danger of becoming overcrowded with Internet satellites and cosmic junk? Concern has been increasing among government agencies, astronomers and others as the number of launched and proposed low-Earth orbit satellites surges. Worries center on the increased risk of collisions that create debris fields capable of taking out nearby satellites; bright reflections that harm scientific astronomy and change the night sky; More (Source: Government Technology - May 17)
CHINA CALLS FOR SPACE STATION COMMERCIAL CARGO PROPOSALS - China’s human spaceflight agency is seeking to foster a commercial, low-cost transportation system to deliver cargo to and from its Tiangong space station. The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced May 16 that it is seeking to reduce the cost and enhance the flexibility of sending supplies to Tiangong through exploring the development of commercial space models. The program echoes NASA’s own Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, which awarded contracts in late 2008 to Orbital Sciences Corp. and SpaceX, and saw the first cargo flights to the International Space Station in 2012. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 17)
ASTROSCALE AND MOMENTUS OFFER CONCEPT FOR REBOOSTING HUBBLE - Two companies have disclosed details about how they could raise the orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA evaluates that and other concepts offered to the agency. Astroscale and Momentus said May 9 that they submitted a response to a NASA request for information (RFI) issued in December 2022 seeking concepts from industry about how they could raise the orbit of Hubble, has been slowly descending since the last shuttle servicing mission in 2009. More (Source: SpaceNews - May 16)
SPACEX AX-2 PRIVATE ASTRONAUT MISSION IS 'GO' FOR MAY 21 LAUNCH - The second-ever private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) remains on track to lift off this weekend. NASA, SpaceX and Houston company Axiom Space held a flight readiness review (FRR) today (May 15) for the Ax-2 mission, which is scheduled to launch four people toward the International Space Station on Sunday afternoon (May 21). More (Source: Space.com - May 16)
SPACEX JUST REVEALED PLANS TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION — AND YOU CAN RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW - SpaceX will launch what it is calling the world’s first commercial space station as early as 2025 with the goal of eventually developing a multi-module base. The space station, called the Vast Haven-1, will launch as early as August 2025 on a Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit, according to SpaceX. It will function as an independent crewed space station and will eventually be connected to a larger Vast space station. More (Source: Yahoo - May 16)
ISRO TO LAUNCH NAVIGATION SATELLITE NVS-01 ON MAY 29 - The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning to launch NVS-01, a navigation satellite on-board the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle or GSLV Mk-II, on May 29, a senior official said on Saturday. “The launch of NVS-01 is scheduled for around May 29. This will be a return flight mission for the GSLV launch vehicle, which will carry the next generation NavIC satellite. This satellite will replace the IRNSS-1G satellite launched in 2016,” a senior Isro official said, seeking anonymity. More (Source: Hindustan Times - May 15)
OVERNIGHT LAUNCH ADDS 56 MORE SATELLITES TO SPACEX’S STARLINK FLEET - Fifty-six more Starlink internet satellites lifted off early Sunday atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on SpaceX’s 32nd launch of the year. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 1:03:30 a.m. EDT (0503:30 UTC) from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A little more than an hour later, the Falcon 9’s upper stage released the 56 Starlink internet satellites into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 15)
NASA, SPACEX PREPARES FOR AXIOM SPACE MISSION 2 TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MAY 21 - Liftoff of the Axiom Mission 2, the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, is scheduled for 5:37 p.m. EDT Sunday, May 21, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting outpost aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. More (Source: Space Coast Daily - May 14)
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