SPACEX LAUNCHES BIG TELECOM SATELLITE, LANDS ROCKET ON SHIP AT SEA - SpaceX launched a commercial communications satellite to orbit on Monday (Feb. 6) and landed a rocket on a ship at sea. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Amazonas Nexus satellite for the Spanish company Hispasat lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday at 8:32 p.m. EST (0332 GMT on Feb. 7). More (Source: Space.com - Feb 7)
SPANISH-OWNED COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - A nearly five-ton satellite for the Spanish company Hispasat is ready for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a mission to provide in-flight internet and other communications services over the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean. Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite, built in France by Thales Alenia Space, is scheduled for launch during a four-hour window opening at 5:32 p.m. EST (2132 GMT) Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX will deploy the satellite into an elongated “super synchronous” transfer orbit stretching more than 30,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) above Earth. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)
WEATHER DELAYS SPACEX LAUNCH WITH HISPASAT’S AMAZONAS NEXUS - SpaceX is set to launch a satellite aimed at providing communications for all of the Americas–including shipping corridors and Greenland. Due to weather, the Amazonas Nexus mission is now scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) on Monday, Feb. 6. A 90% chance of favorable weather is forecasted for Monday. The launch window opens at 5:32 PM EDT (22:32 UTC) and extends for four hours until 9:32 PM EDT (02:32 UTC on Feb. 6). More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 6)
RUSSIAN ELEKTRO-L WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCHED ON PROTON-M - At 09:12 UTC on Feb. 5, 2023, a Proton-M launched from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the fourth Elektro-L satellite to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). Sunday’s launch is the first of up to three Proton launches planned for 2023, with the next being Olymp-K 2 scheduled for March. The Proton-M launcher is nearing retirement, with a limited number of vehicles left available to launch over the next few years. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 6)
RUSSIAN ELEKTRO-L WEATHER SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ON PROTON-M - At 09:12 UTC on Feb. 5, 2023, a Proton-M will launch from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the fourth Elektro-L satellite to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). The Proton-M launch vehicle is serial number 93568 with Blok DM-03 upper stage number 7L. Sunday’s launch is the first of up to three Proton launches planned for 2023, with the next being Olymp-K 2 scheduled for March. The Proton-M launcher is nearing retirement, with a limited number of vehicles left available to launch over the next few years More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 5)
SPACEMIND LAUNCHES THREE ITALIAN SMALLSATS TO ORBIT FROM ISS - Spacemind, the space division of Italian company NPC, has accomplished a series of three smallsat launches. DanteSat, Futura-SM1 and Futura-SM3 have been successfully launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS). This has also validated the operation of the new SMPod cubesat deployer, on-board equipment as well as a larger version of the Artica deorbiting sail. More (Source: SatNews - Feb 5)
UNITED STATES AND INDIA EXPAND CIVIL SPACE COOPERATION - U.S. and Indian officials agreed this week to expand civil space cooperation, including training Indian astronauts and flying payloads on commercial lunar landers. In meetings this week in Washington, held with little public fanfare, the United States and India agreed to expanded cooperation in civil space and laid the groundwork for potential new efforts. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 5)
KAPOW! INFLATABLE SPACE STATION MODULE BLOWS TO PIECES IN VIDEO EXPLOSION - Sierra Space aimed to blow a space module apart on video, and delivered on that promise in spades. The company completed its third module test on the journey to certify its module design for eventual spaceflight and to help develop a private space complex to replace the International Space Station (ISS). The accelerated systematic creep test, as the company termed the December trial, exceeded NASA's certification requirements. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 53 MORE STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES - A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday with 53 more Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s global internet network. The 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket fired off pad 39A at Kennedy at 2:58:20 a.m. EST (0758:20 GMT) Thursday, and shot into an orbit more than 200 miles (300 kilometers) above Earth after flying southeast from Florida’s Space Coast. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 3)
Previous Next
