BLUE ORIGIN CAPSULE ESCAPES ROCKET FAILURE ON UNCREWED FLIGHT OVER TEXAS - The suborbital rocket developed by Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin suffered its first launch failure Monday, when the main engine on the New Shepard booster appeared to cut out about a minute after liftoff from West Texas. The crew capsule, which carried NASA-funded experiments but no people, safely landed under parachutes after firing an abort motor to escape the stricken booster.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 13)

SPACEX TO LAUNCH FIVE SPARE IRIDIUM SATELLITES - Iridium will launch five of its remaining six ground spare satellites on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission in 2023, the company announced Sept. 8. Iridium said it selected SpaceX for the launch of the five satellites, sharing a launch with other, unnamed payloads. The launch is scheduled for the middle of 2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. “We have always said that when the right opportunity presented itself, we would launch many, if not all, of our remaining ground spares, and just such an opportunity came about,”...   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 12)

SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES BLUEWALKER 3, THE LARGEST COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS ARRAY EVER, AND ACES RECORD 14TH LANDING - paceX launched a novel — and colossal — commercial communications satellite into orbit late Saturday and set a new launch record for its Falcon 9 rocket at the same time. The Falcon 9 launched into orbit from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying 34 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites and BlueWalker 3, a prototype satellite built by AST SpaceMobile that's billed as the largest commercial communications array ever flown in space. Liftoff was at 9:20 p.m. EDT (0120 GMT) on Saturday night (Sept. 10), with the Falcon 9 booster making some SpaceX history when it returned to Earth.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 11)

SPACE LOG: FIRST TIME CHINA'S SHENZHOU-14 CREW CELEBRATE MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL IN SPACE - Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, got the chance to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival for the first time ever in the space, in the cozy assembly of the space station which will be fully constructed at the end of this year. On this festive occasion, Chinese people enjoy traditional mooncakes and admire the moon, which is said to be the fullest and brightest of the year.   More
(Source: CGTN - Sep 11)

BLUEWALKER-3 SATELLITE LAUNCHES THIS WEEKEND, MAY BE BRIGHT - A new satellite launching this weekend BlueWalker-3 could be conspicuously bright once it’s unfurled in orbit. A routine SpaceX Starlink launch this coming weekend carries an unusual passenger, that you many be able to easily see gliding through the increasingly crowded night sky. The launch is set to occur along with Starlink Group 4-2 from launch pad LC-39A from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, September 10th, at 9:10 PM EDT/1:10 UT (on the 11th)   More
(Source: Universe Today - Sep 10)

FCC TO SET FIVE-YEAR DEADLINE FOR DEORBITING LEO SATELLITES - The Federal Communication Commission wants to require operators of low Earth orbit satellites to deorbit their spacecraft within five years after their mission ends, a much shorter timeframe than currently required. The FCC issued a draft order Sept. 8 setting a “five-year rule” for post-mission disposal of LEO satellites. The commission will take up the order at its Sept. 29 open meeting.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 9)

EUTELSAT INTERNET SATELLITE LAUNCHED ABOARD ARIANE 5 ROCKET - A powerful Eutelsat commercial communications satellite launched Wednesday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana, heading into orbit on a mission expected to last more than 15 years to provide broadband connectivity to rural households, ships, and airplane passengers across Europe. The Eutelsat Konnect VHTS satellite was the sole payload aboard the Ariane 5 rocket as it vaulted off its launch pad at the European-run Guiana Space Center Wednesday. Liftoff of the 180-foot-tall (55-meter) rocket occurred at 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 GMT) from the ELA-3 launch zone at the jungle spaceport in French Guiana.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 8)

DREAM CHASER SPACEPLANE WILL CARRY 'SCIENCETAXI' LAB TO SPACE STATION - Sierra Space and its parent aerospace company are opening their wings to new contracts in defense and life sciences. The Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC)-led group garnered deals using the flagship Dream Chaser space plane and several defense vehicles in August. (Sierra Space is a separate company to SNC, but is also subsidiary to SNC.)   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 7)

CHINA LAUNCHES TWICE IN UNDER TWO HOURS AND CONDUCTS SPACEWALK - A few busy days are behind the Chinese space program. Not only did three orbital launches occur from China, but also, the Shenzhou-14 crew performed an EVA outside of the Tiangong space station. Additionally, a newly shared photo of the Chinese ZQ-2 rocket shows a close race against the American Terran 1 and Starship vehicles to be the first methane-fueled rocket in orbit.   More
(Source: MASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 7)

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