CHINA GEARS UP FOR NEW SPACE STATION MISSIONS, RECORD-BREAKING CREW SET TO RETURN HOME - A Long March rocket arrived at Wenchang spaceport Monday in preparation for a new round of space station missions starting May. The Long March 7 rocket was delivered to Wenchang after a near week-long voyage from the northern port city of Tianjin, China’s human spaceflight agency announced April 11. The rocket is planned to launch the roughly 13.5-metric-ton Tianzhou-4 cargo vessel next month to China’s Tianhe space station core module.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 15)

U.S. INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING PAYLOADS AWAITING LAUNCH ON SPACEX ROCKET - SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast just before sunrise Saturday, boosting a classified cargo into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office on what is widely believed to be a naval reconnaissance mission. The Falcon 9 rocket is set to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, a military base on the Pacific coastline northwest of Los Angeles, at 6:27 a.m. PDT (9:27 a.m. EDT; 1327 GMT) Saturday. SpaceX announced late Thursday the launch was being delayed to no earlier than Saturday, allowing time to “complete pre-launch checkouts and data reviews.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 15)

NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR RUSSIAN SPACEWALKS OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - NASA will provide coverage of spacewalks Monday, April 18, and Thursday, April 28, as Russian cosmonauts venture outside the International Space Station to activate a new robotic arm attached to the Nauka module. Coverage for both spacewalks will begin at 10 a.m. EDT each day on NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website. Each spacewalk is scheduled to begin around 10:25 a.m.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 14)

CHINA AND RUSSIA INCREASED SATELLITES 70 PERCENT IN 2 YEARS, NEW DIA REPORT FINDS - Between 2019 and 2021, China doubled its number of satellites in orbit from some 250 to 499, while Russia increased its number of orbiting satellites from about 150 in 2019 to 169 last year after a slight dip in 2020, according to a new, unclassified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, Challenges to Security in Space: Space Reliance in an Era of Competition and Expansion. The DIA study is a follow-on to an agency study in 2019 of the same topic.   More
(Source: Via Satellite - Apr 14)

FINLAND TO LAUNCH SATELLITE TO STUDY THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT OF SPACE - Foresail-1, the first satellite from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space, is ready for space, writes Aalto University in a press release. ‘With the help of long-term funding from the Academy of Finland, we have created the first scientific space programme in Finland, which aims to develop more sustainable space technology,’ says Professor Minna Palmroth from the University of Helsinki, the director of the Centre of Excellence.   More
(Source: Innovation Origins - Apr 14)

RUSSIAN BUILDUP IN EASTERN UKRAINE SEEN IN SATELLITE PHOTOS - Russia's intensifying focus on eastern and southern Ukraine is visible in satellite imagery. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, drawing condemnation from the United States and many other countries around the world. The Russian offensive was initially spread widely, with forces advancing on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the north, cities such as Mariupol in the south and the Donbas and other regions in the east.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 14)

11 ASTRONAUTS ON SPACE STATION BUSY WITH RESEARCH, CARGO WORK AND SPACEWALK PREPS - It was very busy on the International Space Station on Monday with the orbiting lab hosting 11 crew members including the four-member Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew. The private astronauts and the seven-member Expedition 67 crew were engaged in a multitude of tasks today such as packing a U.S. cargo ship, researching life science, and preparing for a pair of Russian spacewalks.   More
(Source: SciTechDaily - Apr 13)

RUSSIA IS JAMMING GPS SATELLITE SIGNALS IN UKRAINE, US SPACE FORCE SAYS - Another piece of space infrastructure for Ukraine is under attack, according to an NBC report. Jammers from Russian forces besieging the country are targeting global positioning system (GPS) satellites that are used for navigation, mapping and other purposes, the report said, quoting the U.S. Space Force.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 13)

EUCLID MOVING INTO FINAL PHASE OF TESTING FOLLOWING INTEGRATION MILESTONE - The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Euclid space telescope has moved closer to launch after prime contractor Thales Alenia Space mated the spacecraft’s service module and payload module. Euclid will aim to study the “dark universe” through visible-light and near-infrared astronomy. The mission had been slated to launch no earlier than the first quarter of 2023, but this is now expected to be delayed due to an enforced change of launch vehicle.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 12)

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