SPACEX’S CREW-4 LAUNCH POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER - The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Crew-4 astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed from Saturday, April 23, 2022, to no earlier than Tuesday, April 26. According to NASA, weather considerations factored into the decision to postpone. In addition to a possible Tuesday launch, there will be launch opportunities Wednesday, April 27, and Thursday, April 28. Viewers can follow the mission’s countdown and launch online on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.   More
(Source: EarthSky - Apr 23)

NASA UPDATES COVERAGE FOR AXIOM MISSION 1 DEPARTURE FROM SPACE STATION - The four-member private astronaut crew is scheduled to undock from the space station at 6:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 23, to begin the journey home, with splashdown off the coast of Florida targeted for about 1:46 p.m. Sunday, April 24. The integrated teams at Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX have agreed on the adjusted return plan based on weather for splashdown of the first private astronaut mission to visit the orbital laboratory and the return trajectory required to bring the crew and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft back to Earth safely.    More
(Source: NASA - Apr 22)

ONEWEB SIGNS CONTRACT TO LAUNCH SATELLITES FROM INDIA IN 2022 - OneWeb has signed a contract to use India’s largest launch vehicle to deploy at least some of its remaining LEO broadband satellites this year, according to a company executive. The U.K.-based megaconstellation startup said in a brief April 20 news release it has reached an agreement with New Space India Limited, Indian space agency ISRO’s commercial arm, that covers launches from Satish Dhawan Space Centre for an undisclosed number of satellites.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 22)

SPACEX LAUNCH CADENCE MOVES FORWARD WITH 53 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT - SpaceX has launched its 15th Falcon 9 of the year, lofting another batch of 53 Starlink satellites on the Starlink Group 4-14 mission. Liftoff occurred on April 21 at 1:51 PM EDT (17:51 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. As is traditional these days, the Falcon 9 for this mission featured a flight-proven booster, B1060. This booster flew for the 12th time, being the second one in the fleet to achieve that – and just one month after B1051 became the first one to reach 12 flights.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 22)

WEATHER SATELLITE PREPARES FOR LIGHTNING - As one of the last milestones before liftoff at the end of the year, the first Meteosat Third Generation weather satellite is being fitted with its Lightning Imager. From geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above Earth's surface, this state-of-the-art European instrument will continuously monitor lightning over more than 80% of Earth's disk for early warnings of dangerous storms. Remarkably, it is capable of imaging relatively weak lightning events in full sunlight.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Apr 21)

PRIVATE AX-1 ASTRONAUTS EXTEND STAY ON SPACE STATION: DRAGON ENDEAVOUR DEPARTURE POSTPONED - NASA Mission Control has informed the Expedition 67 and Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crews aboard the International Space Station that because of unfavorable weather at the splashdown location for recovery of the Dragon Endeavour and the Ax-1 crew, the integrated operations team at NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX has postponed the spacecraft’s planned departure from the orbiting laboratory.   More
(Source: SciTechDaily - Apr 20)

TWO COSMONAUTS EXIT STATION AND BEGIN SPACEWALK - Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev of Roscosmos began Russian spacewalk 52 at 11:01 a.m. EDT to activate a new robotic arm attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module at the International Space Station by opening the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock. Artemyev is wearing a Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes. Matveev will wear a spacesuit with blue stripes.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 19)

KAMALA HARRIS TO ANNOUNCE US WILL NO LONGER CONDUCT ANTI-SATELLITE TESTS - This evening, Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing that the United States will no longer conduct anti-satellite, or ASAT, missile tests — the practice of using ground-based missiles to destroy satellites in orbit around Earth. Harris is challenging other countries to make the same commitment and establish this policy as a new “norm of responsible behavior in space.” Harris will speak more extensively on the new commitment during a speech at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this evening. Harris currently serves as the chair of the White House’s National Space Council, an executive advisory group that helps to set the nation’s space agenda.   More
(Source: The Verge - Apr 19)

CHINA SENDING UP NEXT SPACE STATION CREW IN JUNE - China will launch three more astronauts to its newest space station in June after the latest crew returned this weekend following a six-month stay in orbit, an official said Sunday. The crew of the Shenzhou 14 capsule will spend six months on the Tiangong to add two modules to the station, Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, told a news conference.   More
(Source: ABC News - Apr 18)

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