ISRO’S COMMERCIAL ARM TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST DEMAND-BASED COMMUNICATION SATELLITE NEXT YEAR - NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the newly created commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will put together its first demand-based communication satellite for the satellite-based DTH television services provider Tata Sky. The GSAT-24, a 4,000 kg class Ku-band satellite with all transponders dedicated for DTH services, will be launched by the Ariane-5 from Europe’s Arianespace early next year. More (Source: The Indian Express - Oct 3)
CHINA DELAYS LAUNCH OF NEXT MISSION TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION - A source at the launch centre says there are no technical issues, but putting back Shenzhou 13’s lift-off time will ensure the preparations are spot on. The crew will spend six months at the space station and will be given supplies to ensure they hold the first Lunar New Year celebration in space More (Source: South China Morning Post - Oct 2)
US INKS $20 MILLION DEAL TO LAUNCH HIGH-TECH WEATHER SATELLITES IN SPACE - The United States is aiming to launch a group of small satellites to fill a critical gap in the ability to foresee precipitation dangers, like the deluge that overwhelmed Northeastern cities at the start of September. The US Air Force announced Thursday a nearly $20 million contract with Tomorrow.io to develop and deploy an entire constellation of small satellites equipped with advanced radar to measure precipitation from space. More (Source: CNN - Oct 1)
PLANNED LAUNCH OF 9 JAPANESE SATELLITES SCRUBBED LATE IN COUNTDOWN - Tonight's planned launch of the RAISE 2 satellite and rideshare payloads was scrubbed due to an apparent issue with a ground station. JAXA has not yet announced a new target date. Nine small satellites were scheduled to launch to Earth orbit atop Japan's Epsilon rocket tonight (Sept. 30), and you can watch the action live. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 1)
A VIRGINIA COMPANY HAS CONNECTED MOBILE PHONES DIRECTLY TO SATELLITES - A space startup says it has successfully demonstrated the ability to use ordinary, unmodified mobile telephones to connect to satellite Internet services. The Virginia-based company, Lynk, sent its "Shannon" satellite into orbit three months ago as part of a rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket. After some initial tests, the company said "hundreds" of mobile phones in the United States, United Kingdom, and the Bahamas were able to connect with the satellite as it passed overhead, as if it were a virtual cell phone tower in space. More (Source: Ars Technica - Oct 1)
NASA, SPACEX ADJUST NEXT SPACE STATION CREW ROTATION LAUNCH DATE - NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 2:43 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 30, for the agency’s Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station. The date adjustment provides two consecutive launch attempts for the crew rotation mission with the backup time and date of 2:21 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 31. More (Source: NASA - Oct 1)
SPACEX CARGO SHIP STREAKS ACROSS FLORIDA ON THE WAY TO SPLASHDOWN - A SpaceX supply ship blazed a trail through the atmosphere over the southeastern United States Thursday night and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida, returning home with 2.3 tons of research specimens and cargo from the International Space Station. The late-night re-entry capped a 14-hour flight from the space station that began with an automated undocking from the complex at 9:12 a.m. EDT (1312 GMT) Thursday. The Cargo Dragon spacecraft backed away from the research outpost using pulses from its Draco thrusters. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 1)
ASTRONAUT SNAPS STUNNING PHOTOS OF MASSIVE HURRICANE SAM FROM SPACE - NASA astronaut Megan McArthur shared three photos of the massive Hurricane Sam as seen from the International Space Station, showing off the storm's vast clouds and distinct eye. Fortunately, Hurricane Sam is chugging over the Atlantic Ocean without posing much of a threat to folks on land. Nevertheless, the duties of astronauts living and working in orbit regularly include photographing Earth from space, and there Sam is. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 30)
CHINESE SATELLITE DECLARED LOST FOLLOWING BACK-TO-BACK LAUNCHES MONDAY - China has confirmed the loss of its Shiyan-10 satellite, despite an otherwise successful liftoff on Monday (Sept. 27). The Shiyan-10 satellite launched to space on a Long March 3B rocket, which lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China around 4:20 a.m. EDT (0820 GMT; 4 p.m. local time) on Monday (Sept. 27). More (Source: Space.com - Sep 30)
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