DOD SPACE AGENCY TO ACQUIRE 10 SATELLITES FOR EXPERIMENTS IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - The Space Development Agency is looking to acquire as many as 10 satellites to host military payloads for experiments in low Earth orbit. This new procurement of satellites – known as the NExT experimental testbed – replaces a previous SDA program called T1DES announced last fall. The T1DES procurement was for 18 satellites hosting industry-developed experimental payloads. The plan was to integrate them with the agency’s 126-satellite broadband constellation known as the Transport Layer Tranche 1 projected to launch in 2024.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 14)

TWO HURRICANE RESEARCH SATELLITES LOST IN ASTRA LAUNCH FAILURE - Two small NASA hurricane research satellites were destroyed after launch from Cape Canaveral Sunday when their commercial rocket, provided by Astra, prematurely shut down its upper stage engine before reaching the mission’s target orbit. The twin nanosatellites — each about the size of a shoebox — were the vanguard of a planned fleet of six cyclone monitoring spacecraft to measure temperature, moisture, and other parameters inside hurricanes and tropical storms.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 13)

ASTRA LAUNCH FAILS ON FIRST TROPICS FLIGHT FOR NASA - The first of three flights to launch the TROPICS satellites for NASA lifted off on Sunday during at 1:43 PM EDT (17:43 UTC). Astra’s LV0010 vehicle launched from SLC-46 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, making the company’s seventh orbital launch attempt. After a nominal first stage burn, the upper stage engine shut down early. As a result, the vehicle and payloads were lost.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 13)

SHENZHOU-14 ASTRONAUTS BEGIN THEIR MISSION OF 6 MONTHS IN SPACE - The Shenzhou-14 mission, carrying three Chinese astronauts, docked successfully earlier this week with the Tiangong-3 space station. During their six-month mission on board the station, the new crew hopes to continue work on construction of the orbital Chinese outpost, which will be about one-fifth the size of the International Space Station. China’s Manned Space Agency (CMSA) hopes to finish construction of Tiangong by the end of 2022. Later this year, they will launch two new modules – one in July and the second scheduled for October – which they say will expand their research capabilities in microgravity and life sciences.   More
(Source: Universe Today - Jun 11)

THESE LITTLE SATELLITES COULD BRING BIG ADVANCES TO TROPICAL STORM FORECASTS - NASA is gearing up to launch tiny satellites into space that will help forecasters keep a closer eye on tropical storms as they develop in a mission called TROPICS. Crucially, if the launches are successful, the satellites will mark a big advancement in our ability to watch rapidly intensifying storms. At the moment, NASA’s weather satellites can only check in on a storm every four to six hours. “So we’re missing a lot of what’s happening in the storm,” Bill Blackwell, principal investigator for the TROPICS mission and a researcher at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, said in NASA’s announcement yesterday.   More
(Source: The Verge - Jun 11)

SPACEX ROCKET HAULS EGYPTIAN TELECOM SATELLITE TOWARD GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT - SpaceX launched an Egyptian communications satellite toward a high-altitude geostationary orbit Wednesday from Cape Canaveral. It was the first commercial launch of a geostationary payload this year, another sign of a market shift toward smaller, lower-orbiting communications satellites. With the successful launch Wednesday, the Nilesat 301 satellite began a 15-year mission to provide Ultra HD television broadcast services and internet connectivity over Egypt and other parts of Africa and the Middle East.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 10)

SPACEX LAUNCHES NILESAT-301 ON FIRST GTO MISSION OF 2022 - SpaceX launched its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket with the Nilesat-301 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on Wednesday. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Falcon 9 embarked on its first GTO mission of the year at 5:04 PM EDT (21:04 UTC). Flying this mission was first stage booster B1062-7, making its seventh flight. After it completed its main task of lifting the second stage and payload out of the atmosphere, the booster landed on SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions. B1062 was first launched as part of the GPS-III SV04 mission in November 2020; it has gone on to launch GSP-III SV05, Inspiration 4, Axiom-1, and two Starlink missions.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 9)

SPACEX READIES FALCON 9 ROCKET TO LAUNCH EGYPTIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - An Egyptian-owned communications satellite is nestled in the nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, heading for an orbital position more than 22,000 miles over the equator. The Nilesat 301 satellite is set to begin a 15-year mission beaming television programming, data services, and internet connectivity to Egypt and neighboring regions in the Middle East and Africa.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)

RUSSIA WARNS OF POTENTIALLY PATHOGENIC SPACE GERMS ON ISS - A Russian scientist has expressed concerns that the country's planned space station could end up being contaminated with germs already on the International Space Station (ISS). Russia's plans for its Russian Orbital Space Station (ROSS) are ongoing amid the country's continued invasion of Ukraine, which has been internationally condemned. One possible option for the creation of the ROSS station would be to use existing Russian modules attached to the ISS. These modules could be detached and then operated independently.   More
(Source: Newsweek - Jun 9)

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