SPACEX DRAGON CARGO CAPSULE DEPARTS SPACE STATION FOR TRIP BACK TO EARTH - A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule cast off from the International Space Station and began heading back to Earth on Friday (Aug. 19), setting the stage for a weekend splashdown. The uncrewed Dragon supply ship undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 259 miles above the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. The spacecraft will return to on Saturday (Aug. 20), NASA officials said.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 20)

INTELSAT WORKING TO REGAIN CONTROL OF GALAXY 15 SATELLITE - Intelsat said Aug. 19 it has lost control of its Galaxy 15 satellite after it was likely hit by a geomagnetic storm. High space weather activity likely knocked out onboard electronics needed to communicate with the satellite, Intelsat said, and keep it locked in its geostationary orbit slot at 133 degrees West. “The satellite is otherwise operating nominally, keeping earth pointing with all payload operations nominal,” Intelsat spokesperson Melissa Longo said.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 20)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 53 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES, LANDS ROCKET AT SEA AGAIN - SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit today (Aug. 19) and also aced a rocket landing at sea. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 53 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at, appropriately enough, 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT). About nine minutes into the mission, the Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth for a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 20)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: GIRL, 8, CHATS TO ASTRONAUT ON AMATEUR RADIO - An eight-year-old girl from Kent used her father's amateur radio equipment to chat to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Isabella, from Broadstairs, spoke to American Kjell Lindgren for about 45 seconds as the ISS passed overhead. Dr Lindgren said the conversation "may be my favourite so far". Isabella said it was "amazing", adding: "Once he found out I was eight, his voice instantly turned from normal to joyful."    More
(Source: BBC News - Aug 19)

ARMENIAN'S FIRST SATELLITE REACHES ORBIT AFTER SPACEX 'RIDESHARE' LAUNCH - Armenian's first satellite has reached Earth's orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has announced. Pashinian said the satellite, which was launched on May 25 from Cape Canaveral in the U.S. state of Florida, will have multiple uses. "Photographs to be taken by the satellite will be used in Armenia for border control, emergency prevention and management, environmental protection, including climate-change monitoring, urban planning, road construction, geology, and other purposes," Pashinian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan on May 26.   More
(Source: Radio Free Europe - Aug 18)

RUSSIAN SPACEWALK CUT SHORT BY SPACESUIT POWER SYSTEM PROBLEM - Russian ground controllers ordered International Space Station commander Oleg Artemyev back to the airlock after data showed voltage fluctuations in his spacesuit Wednesday, cutting short a spacewalk to continue outfitting the European Space Agency’s robotic arm delivered to the complex last year. Artemyev and Denis Matveev, wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits, opened the hatch of the the Poisk airlock module at 9:53 a.m. EDT (1353 GMT) Wednesday to begin a planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 18)

ROCKET LAB PREPARES TO PUT 150TH SATELLITE IN SPACE NEXT MONTH - Since its first test launch on May 25, 2017, Rocket Lab has successfully put 149 satellites in space. The Long Beach-based firm is now gearing up for No. 150 when its next launch window opens in mid-September. The upcoming mission, dubbed “The Owl Spreads its Wings,” is slated to carry a single satellite—the StriX-1—from the firm’s New Zealand launch complex to low Earth orbit. The StriX-1 is Japanese Earth-imaging satellite firm Synspecctive’s first commercial satellite for its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation.   More
(Source: Long Beach Business Journal - Aug 17)

CHINESE SPACEPLANE MARKS 10 DAYS IN ORBIT - A reusable Chinese spacecraft that may resemble the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane has logged 10 days in orbit since its Aug. 4 launch, but what it’s doing remains a mystery. The spacecraft launched from the Jiuquan space center in the Gobi Desert on top of a Chinese Long March 2F rocket around 1600 GMT (12 p.m. EDT) on Aug. 4, flying inside the launcher’s aerodynamic nose cone. The liquid-fueled rocket, which is typically used to launch astronaut crews into orbit, deployed the mysterious Chinese spacecraft into an orbit ranging between 215 miles and 368 miles (346-by-593 kilometers) in altitude with an inclination of 50 degrees to the equator.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 17)

VIRGIN ORBIT REDUCES LAUNCH FORECAST WHILE INCREASING PER-LAUNCH REVENUE - Virgin Orbit now expects to perform four launches this year, at the low end of earlier projections, but with a higher per-launch revenue. The company, in its second quarter earnings release Aug. 12, reported no revenue in the quarter and a net loss of $33.3 million. The company, though, said it recorded more than $12 million in revenue in its second launch of the year July 2, just after the end of the quarter. The company recognizes revenue at the time of launch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 16)

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