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)

SPACEX LAUNCHES NROL-85 SPY SATELLITE FOR U.S. NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit April 17 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The payload, designated NROL-85, was the agency’s second mission of the year and the second orbital launch of 2022 from the Western Range. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 9:13 a.m. Eastern. After separation from the upper stage, the rocket’s first stage landed back at Landing Zone 4 about eight minutes after liftoff. This was the 114th booster successfully recovered by SpaceX.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 18)

SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS: A SECRET WEAPON AGAINST SHADOWY THREATS IN ORBIT - When China fired a missile into one of its own weather satellites in a 2007 show of force, experts called the demo the beginning of a new antisatellite arms race. Fast forward to 2022, and a Chinese space tug is spotted towing a dead navigation satellite into a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt. “This is the type of space event that makes the hair on the back of people’s necks stand up,” said Brian Young, a former space control officer at the U.S. Air Force Space Command and now vice president of KBR’s military space business.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 17)

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