CHINA'S NEXT CREWED SPACECRAFT IS READY FOR POTENTIAL SPACE STATION RESCUE MISSION - China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts are only just settling in for their six-month mission aboard the country's space station, but Shenzhou 15 is already on standby in case of an emergency in orbit. Shenzhou 14 lifted off on June 4, delivering astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe to the Tianhe space station core module seven hours later. Life in orbit is going well for the trio so far, but back on the ground the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft and a Long March 2F rocket have been assembled and tested in case an emergency arises aboard China's Tiangong space station.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 8)

GLOBALSTAR SPARE SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ON SPACEX ROCKET THIS MONTH - A spare satellite for Globalstar’s data relay and messaging constellation will launch from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket later this month, multiple sources said, in a previously-undisclosed mission on SpaceX’s schedule. The launch will be the first for a Globalstar satellite since 2013, and adds capacity for the company’s commercial network providing data connectivity for satellite phones, asset tracking, and internet-of-things applications.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 8)

XONA TO TEST GPS-ALTERNATIVE DEMO SATELLITE WITH CUSTOMER - Startup Xona Space Systems is preparing to demonstrate services from a test satellite to the first major customer for its planned navigation constellation. Canadian GPS equipment and solutions provider NovAtel, which said May 31 it has signed up to be an early adopter of Xona’s proposed network of around 300 cubesats, plans to use the in-orbit test bed to configure its technology. NovAtel is part of publicly listed technology provider Hexagon — which generated about $4.7 billion in net sales in 2021 — and is one of the largest makers of GPS signal receivers.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 8)

NEW SHEPARD COMPLETES FIFTH CREWED SUBORBITAL FLIGHT - Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle performed its fifth crewed suborbital flight June 4, carrying six people including the first Mexican-born woman to go to space and the company’s first repeat customer. New Shepard lifted off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:25 a.m. Eastern. The crew capsule, with six people on board, landed 10 minutes after liftoff after reaching a peak altitude of about 107 kilometers. The vehicle’s booster made a propulsive landing nearly three minutes earlier.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 7)

SPACEX CARGO MISSION GROUNDED TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE FUEL LEAK - SpaceX has postponed this week’s planned launch of a Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station to investigate a possible leak detected during fueling of the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral. The Dragon spacecraft was scheduled for launch Friday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Officials have not set a new target launch date for the SpaceX resupply mission, but a NASA spokesperson confirmed it would not occur Friday or Saturday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 7)

CHINESE CREW ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION FOR SIX-MONTH CONSTRUCTION MISSION - China’s Shenzhou 14 spacecraft glided to an automated docking at the Tiangong space station Sunday, hours after launching with three astronauts to begin a six-month mission that will see the outpost triple in size with the arrival of two new 20-ton research modules. Commander Chen Dong monitored the Shenzhou 14 spacecraft’s on-board systems throughout the rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong space station. Chen is joined on the Shenzhou 14 mission by astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 6)

CHINA LAUNCHES SHENZHOU 14 MISSION TO SUPPORT MODULE INSTALLATION - China scuessfully launched the Shenzhou 14 mission to their Tiangong space station on Sunday morning, June 5, at 02:44 UTC, which was 10:44 pm EDT on Saturday the 4th. The crewed launch of three taikonauts took place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, with the Shenzhou spacecraft being taken to orbit by a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) rocket from a pad known as Space Launch Site 1.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jun 5)

RUSSIA'S SUPPLY SHIP ARRIVES AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A Russian cargo spacecraft docked Friday at the International Space Station, delivering nearly three tons of supplies to its crew. A Soyuz rocket carrying the uncrewed Progress MS-20 ship blasted off as scheduled from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft smoothly docked at the space outpost about 3 1/2 hours after the launch. It has delivered food, fuel and other supplies for the station's international crew.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Jun 4)

RUSSIAN SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH SPACE STATION CARGO FREIGHTER - Russia’s Progress MS-20 cargo freighter lifted off Friday on a fast-track, three-and-a-half hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver around three tons of fuel, food, and supplies for the lab’s seven-person crew. The Progress supply ship launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket. Russian ground crews rolled the Soyuz booster to the launch pad at Site 31 early Tuesday, then raised it vertical into liftoff position over the pad’s cavernous flame trench.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 4)

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