ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES NOAA-FUNDED SATELLITE FOR WILDLIFE TRACKING - Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket Friday from its privately-run spaceport in New Zealand, boosting a 260-pound satellite into orbit on a $64 million NOAA-funded mission to relay environmental data from remote weather stations and help track global wildlife movements. The mission is a partnership between General Atomics, NOAA, and CNES, the French space agency. It is the latest in a line of Argos environmental data relay satellites launched since 1978.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 8)

CHINA MOVES TIANGONG SPACE STATION MODULE TO SIDE DOCKING PORT - China has rotated a space station module to a lateral docking port as part of the process of building its T-shaped Tiangong space station. China launched the second Tiangong module, named Wentian, in July. Wentian joined the Tianhe core module by docking with its forward docking port hours later. The Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew aboard the under-construction Tiangong space station has been testing Wentian ever since, including conducting a pair of spacewalks using the module's airlock.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 8)

THE CREW-5 ASTRONAUTS DOCK TO THE SPACE STATION - NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina arrived at the International Space Station Thursday Oct. 6, as the SpaceX Dragon Endurance docked to the complex at 5:01 p.m. EDT while the spacecraft were flying 258 miles above the west coast of Africa.   More
(Source: NASA - Oct 7)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES “IT ARGOS UP FROM HERE” MISSION - Rocket Lab has launched its 31st Electron rocket on the “It Argos Up From Here” mission from Rocket Lab’s private Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B), on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Liftoff occurred on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:09 AM NZT (17:09 UTC on Oct. 7). This launch marks Rocket Lab’s eighth launch of 2022 and their fourth overall launch from LC-1B – one of Rocket Lab’s three launch pads, which include LC-1A and LC-1B at Mahia, and LC-2 at Wallops in the United States.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 7)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK 4-29 FROM VANDENBERG HOURS AFTER CREW MISSION - SpaceX’s Falcon 9 B1071-5 has launched 52 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The Starlink 4-29 mission was targeting launch on Monday, Oct. 3; however, the target was delayed 24 hours to Tuesday “to allow more time for pre-launch checkouts” and then to its final liftoff time on Wednesday at 4:10 PM PDT (23:10 UTC) to deconflict with the Crew-5 mission.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 6)

IRELAND'S FIRST SATELLITE CLOSE TO LIFT OFF - It is hoped that Ireland's first-ever satellite will tell us more about how the universe is formed. The launch of the has moved a step closer following discussions at the cabinet on Tuesday. EIRSAT-1, was designed, developed, built and tested at University College Dublin (UCD). The launch window, from the European spaceport in French Guiana, is between mid-January and mid-February.    More
(Source: BBC News - Oct 6)

NEXT NOAA WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCHING JUST IN TIME - The launch of the next U.S. weather satellite is coming just in time to ensure the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has two healthy spacecraft making observations from polar orbit. NOAA is preparing to launch the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 on Nov. 1 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellite, built and integrated by Northrop Grumman, will travel to low-Earth orbit on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 6)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL EARTH SATELLITE – ARCHIVE 1957 - 5 October 1957 - The Tass agency announced last night that the first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched in Russia yesterday. It is now circling the world 565 miles up once every 95 minutes and, according to the agency, can be observed in the rays of the rising and setting sun with ordinary binoculars or spy glasses.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Oct 6)

SPACEX TARGETS WEDNESDAY FOR STARLINK 4-29 LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG - NASASpaceFlight.com Forums L2 Sign Up Artemis SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other Shop SpaceX targets Wednesday for Starlink 4-29 launch from Vandenberg written by Justin Davenport October 3, 2022 SpaceX’s Falcon 9 B1071-5 is ready to launch 52 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The Starlink 4-29 mission was targeting launch on Monday, Oct. 3; however, the target was delayed 24 hours to Tuesday “to allow more time for pre-launch checkouts” and then to Wednesday at 4:10 PM PDT (23:10 UTC) to deconflict with the Crew-5 mission. Starlink Group 4-29 will mark SpaceX’s 45th launch of 2022, coming just seven hours after the launch of Crew-5 from Florida.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 5)

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