SPACEX EXPENDS FALCON 9 BOOSTER TO LAUNCH SPAINSAT NG 2 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage flew Thursday for the 21st and final time — a rare expendable mission for the company’s reusable rocket, which deployed a communications satellite for Spain. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, but was delayed 24 hours for reasons not disclosed by SpaceX. The rocket was sighted at the launch pad Wednesday morning, but it returned to its assembly hangar before rolling out again.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 24)

THE END OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The ISS has been in low orbit above the earth for almost 25 years. It’s played host to astronauts from around the world. But that’s about to come to an end. NASA is gearing up to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and it’s working with private companies to begin development of commercial space stations to take its place.   More
(Source: NPR - Oct 23)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES ON 550TH FALCON 9 MISSION - SpaceX launched its 550th Falcon 9 mission since the rocket’s debut in 2010. The launch from California added 28 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s Starlink constellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT / 1416 UTC).   More
(Source: Spacelight Now - Oct 23)

YOU'RE FREE!' TINY JAPANESE SATELLITES ESCAPE DOOMED SPACE STATION YEARS AHEAD OF ITS FIERY DEATH - In its efforts to broaden global access to space, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) recently launched three cubesats from the Kibo module of the International Space Station (ISS). YOTSUBA-KULOVER, e-kagaku-1 and BOTAN, according to JAXA's press release.    More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 22)

THIS COMPANY'S PLAN TO LAUNCH 4,000 MASSIVE SPACE MIRRORS HAS SCIENTISTS ALARMED: 'FROM AN ASTRONOMICAL PERSPECTIVE, THAT'S PRETTY CATASTROPHIC' - California-based start-up Reflect Orbital has applied for a government license to launch a giant mirror to space next year. The mission is meant to be the first step in the company's ambitious plan to operate a constellation of more than 4,000 solar reflectors to boost solar power production in twilight hours on Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 22)

LAUNCH ROUNDUP: SPACEX TO LAUNCH FIRST EXPENDABLE FALCON 9 SINCE JANUARY - SpaceX dominates this week’s launch manifest with up to four missions aboard Falcon 9 vehicles, one of which will be the first expendable mission for the rocket since January, and another carrying 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites for the second time. There is only one international mission scheduled at the time of publishing – a Chang Zheng 5 will loft an unknown payload midweek from China. The maiden launch of Japan’s HTV-X cargo supply vehicle was delayed from a planned launch at the start of the week. Persistent bad weather expected throughout this week at the Tanegashima Space Center has pushed this launch to, at least, the upcoming weekend.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 21)

CHINA'S ROCKET LAUNCHES PAKISTAN REMOTE-SENSING SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launched the ninth rocket in its Kinetica 1 series on Sunday morning, successfully putting three satellites into their preset orbital positions. The rocket lifted off at 11:33 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and then placed the payloads — two synthetic aperture radar satellite, and the HS-1, Pakistan's first hyperspectral imaging satellite — into orbit...   More
(Source: China Daily HK - Oct 20)

US MILITARY GREENLIGHTS UP TO 100 SPACEX LAUNCHES PER YEAR FROM CALIFORNIA - Many more rockets may lift off from California next year. On Oct. 10, the Department of the Air Force approved SpaceX's proposal to launch up to 100 missions annually from Vandenberg Space Force Base, which sits on the Golden State's rugged, beautiful and cloudy central coast. SpaceX had been cleared to launch just 50 times per year from the site.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 20)

CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE GROUP - China sent a new satellite group into space on Friday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The satellite group, which will constitute the Spacesail Constellation – a commercial Chinese low-orbit satellite network, was launched at 3:08 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket and entered its preset orbit successfully.   More
(Source: CGTN - Oct 20)

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