CHINA READIES TO LAUNCH WENTIAN MODULE FOR TIANGONG SPACE STATION ON SUNDAY - China is expected to launch the second module for its Tiangong space station on Sunday (July 24) from Wenchang spaceport in south China. The Wentian module will launch on board the huge Long March 5B rocket and should join up with the Chinese space station's Tianhe core module hours later, expanding the country's crewed space research facility.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 24)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 32ND MISSION OF THE YEAR, BREAKING RECORD SET IN 2021 - With 2022 barely half over, SpaceX launched its 32nd mission of the year Friday from California’s Central Coast, breaking the company’s record for most launches in a year and delivering 46 more Starlink internet satellites into polar orbit to provide global broadband service. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 10:39:40 a.m. PDT (1:39:40 p.m. EDT; 1739:40 GMT). Nine Merlin 1D engines powered up to full throttle, generating 1.7 million pounds of thrust as the Falcon 9 climbed through a fog layer blanketing the West Coast spaceport about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 24)

RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT RARE JOINT SPACEWALK - Two astronauts — one European and one Russian — exited the airlock on the International Space Station for a spacewalk on Thursday, marking the first time in more than 20 years such a joint endeavor has taken place. Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev entered the vacuum of space in their puffy white spacesuits before 11 a.m. ET, and they're expected to spend about seven hours working to install a 36-foot-long robotic arm on one of the space station's modules.   More
(Source: CNN - Jul 22)

STATION SET FOR THURSDAY SPACEWALK AS ADVANCED SPACE RESEARCH CONTINUES - A Russian cosmonaut and an Italian astronaut are finalizing preparations for a spacewalk on Thursday to configure the International Space Station’s third and newest robotic arm. As the pair was being assisted by two cosmonauts the rest of the Expedition 67 crew ensured ongoing advanced space research was proceeding full speed ahead aboard the orbiting lab. Station Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to exit the space station into the vacuum of space at 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 21)

NASA CONSIDERS SENDING SCIENTISTS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: REPORT - NASA is considering sending "hyper-specialized" scientists to the International Space Station to work alongside career astronauts. The idea is by no means new, as NASA used to fly payload specialists assigned to specific space shuttle experiments in the early 1980s, notably including three-time spaceflyer Charlie Walker on behalf of his employer, McDonnell Douglas. Payload specialist requirements were changed, however, when the Challenger launch disaster of 1986 killed seven crew members and shifted NASA safety protocols.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 21)

CHINA SIWEI SURVEY LAUNCHES FIRST SAR SATELLITES - China launched two satellites on July 15 onboard a Chang Zheng 2C. The launch was conducted from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) in the Shanxi province. Liftoff was at 22:57 UTC and confirmed to be a success a few minutes later. The payloads went to a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) and are called Siwei Gaojing-2 01/02, or SuperView Neo-2 01/02. They are operated and constructed by China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd., which is a Beijing company that focuses on the area of mapping technology and instruments that are needed for such mapping.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jul 21)

LANDSAT: A GUIDE TO THE EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE FLEET - Landsat is an eagled-eyed satellite fleet that's kept a watchful eye on Earth since 1972. According to NASA, it is the "longest continuous space-based record (opens in new tab) of Earth's land in existence." The program takes images of the Earth at a range that allows scientists to see large-scale changes in the landscape, including those changes induced by human-driven climate change. Landsat 9, the most recent of the series, launched in September 2021 and as late as 2019, researchers have said the program's consistent, multi-decadal record is a boon to science.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 21)

L3HARRIS, NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO BUILD 28 MISSILE-TRACKING SATELLITES FOR U.S. SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY - The Space Development Agency announced July 18 it selected L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman to each build 14 missile-tracking satellites for a low Earth orbit constellation known as the Tracking Layer. L3Harris won a $700 million contract and Northrop Grumman a $617 million deal for the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 1.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 20)

SATELLITES CAPTURE EUROPE BROILING IN RECORD-BREAKING HEATWAVE - It's rare for satellites to get a perfectly cloud-free view of the entirety of Europe, but on Monday (July 18), the European weather satellite Eumetsat captured exactly that. The clear view means a bright blue sky even for those Europeans who usually worry more about remembering an umbrella than sunscreen. The clear blue sky also offers no respite from a heatwave that has engulfed the continent, bringing record-high temperatures across the continent and sparking devastating wildfires that have already ravaged hundreds of square miles of land.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 20)

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