ASTRONOMERS STAND UP TO SATELLITE MEGA-CONSTELLATIONS - Astronomy is finally putting up a co-ordinated front to defend its interests as thousands of satellites are placed in the sky. Huge networks of spacecraft are being launched that are making it harder to get a clear view of the cosmos. These low-orbiting, fast-moving satellites leave bright streaks across telescope images. The International Astronomical Union is establishing a new centre to focus the community's response. More (Source: BBC - Feb 5)
AXIOM SPACE'S 1ST SPACE STATION CREW APPROVED BY NASA, ISS PARTNERS - Axiom Space's first astronaut crew just got the green light from NASA and the other International Space Station (ISS) partners for a trip to the orbiting lab. Axiom's first crewed mission to the ISS, known as Ax-1, is scheduled to launch on March 30 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Ax-1 will be commanded by Axiom Space employee and former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría and will also include three paying customers: real-estate entrepreneur Larry Connor, Canadian businessman Mark Pathy, and Israeli investor Eytan Stibbe, each of whom reportedly paid $55 million for his seat. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 5)
SPACEX LAUNCHES THIRD FALCON 9 ROCKET MISSION IN THREE DAYS - Another 49 Starlink internet satellites lifted off Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket, notching SpaceX’s third launch and landing this week, and the company’s sixth mission in 28 days. A Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 1:13:20 p.m. EST (1813:20 GMT) Thursday. Thrust from nine Merlin engines powered the launcher into a clear sky on a course southeast from Florida’s Space Coast. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES CLASSIFIED NRO SATELLITE FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE - SpaceX hauled a classified payload into orbit for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency Wednesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, accomplishing another successful launch and landing on the second of three Falcon 9 rocket missions planned this week. The launch from California followed a Falcon 9 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday night with an Italian radar satellite. SpaceX has another Falcon 9 rocket on a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for liftoff Thursday with 49 more Starlink internet satellites. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 3)
NASA DETAILS PLAN TO DEORBIT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IN 2031 - NASA has released details of the International Space Station's transition plan, including destruction of the structure in 2031, and research goals for the interim and the future. The ISS will deorbit in January 2031 before crashing into an uninhabited area of the South Pacific Ocean near Point Nemo, which has been called a "spacecraft cemetery," according to the updated plan that NASA released Monday. In the interim, the 925,335-pound space laboratory will continue operating until 2030 under a commitment the Biden administration has made, which NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced last month. More (Source: UPI.com - Feb 2)
NASA DETAILS TRANSITION OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS - NASA has provided an update to Congress on the transition of the ISS into a commercial operation, detailing how it's working to develop supply and demand for the "low-Earth orbit commercial economy." The space agency has already entered into one contract to attach commercial modules to a space station docking port and awarded agreements for the design of three free-flying commercial space stations. More (Source: CNET - Feb 2)
CHINESE ASTRONAUTS CELEBRATE LUNAR NEW YEAR ON TIANGONG SPACE STATION, A FIRST - Festive red adorns China's Tiangong space station in new footage celebrating the lunar new year in orbit, kicking off the Year of the Tiger. The Shenzhou 13 astronauts are the first to celebrate the holiday in orbit, according to the China National Space Administration, and were given ample supplies to do so. "They have decorated the space station core module with traditional Chinese paper-cuts, spring festival couplets ... and red lanterns," state provider CCTV said in a recent update. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 2)
SPACEX PREPS FOR LAUNCH OF SPY SATELLITE PAYLOAD FROM CALIFORNIA THIS WEEK - The first launch of the year from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, set for Wednesday afternoon, will send a payload into orbit for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will deploy a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit after liftoff from Vandenberg at 12:18 p.m. PST (3:18 p.m. EST; 2018 GMT). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES ITALIAN EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE, LANDS ROCKET - The universe finally stopped conspiring against the launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite. A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday (Jan. 31) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT). SpaceX initially aimed to launch the mission on Thursday (Jan. 27), but bad weather forced the company to stand down for three days in a row. Mother Nature finally cooperated on Sunday (Jan. 30), but a cruise ship wandered into the "no-go zone" downrange of Cape Canaveral, forcing yet another scrub. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 1)
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