NASA REVEALS WHAT MADE AN ENTIRE STARLINK SATELLITE FLEET GO DOWN - On March 23, sky observers marveled at a gorgeous display of northern and southern lights. It was a reminder that when our Sun gets active, it can spark a phenomenon called “space weather.” Aurorae are among the most benign effects of this phenomenon. At the other end of the space weather spectrum are solar storms that can knock out satellites. The folks at Starlink found that out the hard way in February 2022.    More
(Source: Inverse - Apr 9)

SPACEX LAUNCHES INTELSAT SATELLITE WITH NASA AIR QUALITY SENSOR - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral shortly after midnight Friday with Intelsat 40e, a communications satellite destined to beam broadband internet signals to airplane and cruise ship passengers across North America while hosting a NASA instrument package to monitor air pollution. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket fired away from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 UTC) Friday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 8)

AXIOM SPACE TARGETING MAY 8 FOR LAUNCH OF 2ND PRIVATE CREWED MISSION TO SPACE STATION - The second-ever private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will launch just over a month from now, if all goes according to plan. Houston-based company Axiom Space announced today (April 6) that it's targeting May 8 for the launch of its Ax-2 mission, which will send four people to the orbiting lab aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule named Freedom.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 8)

ASTRONAUTS FLY REPLACEMENT SOYUZ CAPSULE TO NEW DOCKING PORT AT SPACE STATION - A NASA astronaut and two cosmonauts took a Soyuz capsule for a spin at the International Space Station early Thursday (April 6) to make way for a new cargo ship arriving later this year. Astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin undocked from their Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft from port on the station's Russian-built Poisk module at 4:45 a.m. EDT (0845 GMT) and parked it at a nearby berth at another Russian module called Prichal at 5:22 a.m. EDT (0922 GMT). Cameras on the International Space Station captured the Soyuz parking spot swap in stunning detail.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 8)

NASA EARTH SCIENCE HOSTED PAYLOAD SET FOR LAUNCH ON INTELSAT SATELLITE - The upcoming launch of a NASA Earth science instrument on a commercial communications satellite illustrates the promise of, but also the problems with, hosted payloads. A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off at 12:30 a.m. Eastern April 7 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, placing the Intelsat 40e satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. There is a 90% chance of acceptable weather for the launch, the 23rd of the year by SpaceX.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 7)

NASA, BOEING TARGETING JULY FOR 1ST ASTRONAUT FLIGHT TO SPACE FROM FLORIDA - Boeing’s first launch of astronauts has been delayed again, this time until July. "NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than Friday, July 21, for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station, pending coordination for the U.S Eastern Range availability," NASA recently posted on its blog.    More
(Source: FOX 35 Orlando - Apr 6)

EXPEDITION 69 TRIO PREPS FOR SOYUZ RIDE AROUND STATION - Three Expedition 69 crew members had a short day on Wednesday and went to sleep early ahead of the relocation of their Soyuz crew ship on Thursday morning. The rest of the International Space Station crew had its hands full throughout the day conducting biology research and packing a cargo craft. Two Roscosmos cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut will take a short ride around the space station inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship relocating it from the Poisk module to the Prichal docking module early Thursday.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 6)

AMAZON'S KUIPER SATELLITE CONSTELLATION WILL USE THESE SLEEK ANTENNAS TO SERVE YOU INTERNET - Amazon has revealed three terminals that customers might use to link up with Project Kuiper, the company's satellite internet program. One day, Amazon hopes those satellites will provide internet access to users in remote areas. Now, Amazon has previewed (opens in new tab) the grounded part of that plan — Project Kuiper's receiving terminals — at the SATELLITE space technology conference in Washington, D.C.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 6)

VIRGIN ORBIT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY - Launch company Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 4, having failed to achieve financial orbit after burning through more than $1 billion. The company said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware as part of efforts to sell the company, after failing to line up financing to sustain the company in recent weeks. That led the company to lay off about 85% of its 800-person workforce March 30.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 5)

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