SMALL SATELLITE GIVES BIG PUSH TO SCHOOLGIRLS’ DREAMS - On Friday, a large group of schoolgirls waiting at India’s spaceport in Sriharikota let out screams of joy as the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle - SSLV D2 - took off. These girls had created payloads for one of the satellites the SSLV D2 carried. About 750 girl students from across India were guided to develop the payloads for SpaceKidz India’s AzaadiSAT-2, which was placed in orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday. SpaceKidz is a Chennai-based aerospace start-up.    More
(Source: The Hindu - Feb 12)

ISRO’S SECOND SSLV MISSION SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES TRIO OF SATELLITES - India’s new SSLV rocket has successfully reached orbit on its second attempt Friday, six months after its maiden flight ended in failure. Friday’s launch carried a trio of satellites, lifting off at 9:18 AM local time (03:48 UTC) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, or SSLV, has been developed by India to enable lower-cost and more rapidly responsive access to space for small satellite missions. It flew for the first time last August, however, an issue during stage separation meant that it could not achieve a stable orbit.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 12)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 55 STARLINK SATELLITES, LANDS ROCKET ON SHIP AT SEA - SpaceX launched its 10th mission of the year early Sunday (Feb. 12), sending 55 of its Starlink internet satellites skyward and landing the returning rocket on a ship at sea. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 55 Starlink craft lifted off Sunday at 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Falcon 9's first stage landed as planned 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 12)

RUSSIAN PROGRESS CARGO CRAFT AT SPACE STATION SPRINGS A LEAK - For the second time in two months, a Russian spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) has sprung a leak. Mission controllers in Moscow have noticed "a depressurization" in the robotic Progress 82 cargo craft, Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos announced on Saturday (opens in new tab) (Feb. 11). The depressurization occurred in the Progress vehicle's coolant system, NASA officials said.   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 12)

WATCH RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP ARRIVE AT SPACE STATION EARLY SATURDAY - A robotic Russian cargo craft will arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) early Saturday morning (Feb. 11), and you can watch the action live. The robotic Progress 83 freighter is scheduled to dock with the station at 3:49 a.m. EST (0849 GMT) on Saturday, ending a two-day orbital chase. Watch the off-Earth rendezvous live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency (opens in new tab). Coverage will begin at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 11)

AMAZON GETS KEY FCC APPROVAL FOR MORE THAN 3,000 LEO BROADBAND SATELLITES - The Federal Communications Commission approved Amazon’s plan Feb. 8 to deploy and operate 3,236 broadband satellites, subject to conditions that include measures for avoiding collisions in low Earth orbit (LEO). Amazon got initial FCC clearance for its Ka-band Project Kuiper constellation in 2020 on the condition that it secured regulatory approval for an updated orbital debris mitigation plan.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 10)

MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN SATELLITE BREAKS UP IN ORBIT, GENERATING CLOUD OF DEBRIS - A mysterious Russian satellite broke apart early last month, creating a cloud of debris that could linger in Earth orbit for a while. The Kosmos 2499 spacecraft disintegrated on the night of Jan. 3, according to the U.S. Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron (18th SDS), which tracks human-made objects in orbit. The breakup event generated at least 85 pieces of trackable debris, 18th SDS said via Twitter on Monday (opens in new tab) (Feb. 6). That cloud of space junk is orbiting 726 miles (1,169 kilometers) above Earth — so high that it'll likely take a century or more (opens in new tab) for atmosphere drag to bring it down.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 9)

RUSSIAN PROGRESS RESUPPLY SHIP LAUNCHES ON FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, boosting a Progress resupply ship into orbit in pursuit of the International Space Station with more than 5,500 pounds of cargo, fuel, water, and air. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Site 31 launch complex at Baikonur at 1:15:36 a.m. EST (0615:36 GMT) Thursday to kick off a two-day flight to the space station. The three-stage Soyuz rocket released the Progress MS-22 supply ship into orbit about nine minutes into the mission, then the cargo freighter unfurled solar arrays and navigation antennas.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 9)

NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH, DOCKING - NASA will provide live coverage of the launch and docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 68 crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Progress 83 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 1:15 a.m. EST (11:15 a.m. Baikonur time) Thursday, Feb. 9, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Coverage will begin at 1 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.   More
(Source: NASA - Feb 9)

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