SPACE RACE WITH CHINA IS NOT JUST A MILITARY COMPETITION - Military space isn’t the only domain where China is catching up, if not passing us by. While we are having discussions about the future of the International Space Station, China launched, deployed and presently inhabits the Tiangong space station in near Earth orbit. Beijing also has designs on the moon, planning to launch three missions over the course of the next several years as part of the country’s lunar exploration program, which aims for crewed landings by the 2030s.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 30)

FALCON 9 LAUNCH WITH ITALIAN CSG-2 EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE MOVED TO SUNDAY - The Italian Space Agency’s CSG-2 mission, the second satellite in its COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation constellation, has endured two scrubs on Thursday and Friday, both caused by unacceptable weather – while Saturday’s weather impacted pre-launch preparations. The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will be the fourth Falcon 9 flight of the year, and is now scheduled for liftoff on Sunday at 6:11 PM EST (23:11 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 30)

CHINESE SATELLITE OBSERVED GRAPPLING AND PULLING ANOTHER SATELLITE OUT OF ITS ORBIT - China reportedly displayed another alarming leap in space-based technology and capabilities this week after an analytics firm claimed to observe a satellite "grab" another and pull it from its orbit. China’s Shijian-21 satellite, or SJ-21, disappeared from its regular position and reappeared while making a "large maneuver" to move closer to a dead BeiDou Navigation System satellite. The SJ-21 then pulled the BeiDou out of its orbit and placed it a few hundred miles away in a "graveyard orbit" where it is unlikely to interfere or collide with active satellites.    More
(Source: Fox News - Jan 29)

WEATHER DELAYS SET UP SPACEX FOR TWO WEEKEND LAUNCHES FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - A blanket of thick clouds over Cape Canaveral Friday forced SpaceX to delay liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket and an Italian radar remote sensing satellite until Saturday, setting up Florida’s Space Coast for launches on back to back days this weekend, with another SpaceX flight already booked on the range for Sunday. SpaceX’s planned launch of Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed radar surveillance satellite was originally scheduled Thursday, but rain showers, low visibility, and thick clouds caused officials to call off the launch attempt before loading propellants into the Falcon 9 rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 29)

TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA WORRY FORMER US ASTRONAUTS ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP IN SPACE - The International Space Station has transcended terrestrial political troubles between the United States and Russia for more than two decades. But some former NASA astronauts who spent months floating alongside Russian cosmonauts are worried the current crisis in Ukraine could end the US-Russian partnership in space.    More
(Source: CNN - Jan 29)

SPACEX SCRUBS LAUNCH OF ITALIAN SATELLITE FROM FLORIDA, WILL TRY AGAIN FRIDAY - SpaceX on Thursday scrubbed its planned launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite, the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation 2 and said it plans to try again Friday. "Due to unfavorable weather, now targeting Friday, January 28 at 6:11 p.m. EST for launch of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2," the company tweeted.    More
(Source: UPI - Jan 28)

VEGA-C STAGES IN LAUNCH PREPARATION AS AVIO, ARIANESPACE PROGRESS TOWARD ROCKET’S DEBUT - Components for the first Vega-C (Vega Consolidation) rocket are entering launch preparations at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. This month, the first flightworthy P120C solid rocket motor was activated and moved to the launch facility. Vega-C is an upgraded version of the Vega rocket and is currently set to launch no earlier than April 2022. The rocket will feature improved first and second stage solid rocket motors, an upgraded liquid-fueled AVUM+ upper stage, and usher in an era of propulsion system commonality between the Vega and Ariane rocket lines.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 27)

CHINA LAUNCHES L-SAR 01A SATELLITE FOR LAND OBSERVING - China launched a Long March-4C rocket to place a new satellite in space Wednesday. The rocket blasted off at 7:44 a.m. (Beijing Time) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and soon sent the L-SAR 01A satellite into preset orbit. The satellite, equipped with L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), will be used to monitor the geological environment, landslides and earthquakes.   More
(Source: xinhuanet.com - Jan 27)

SPACEX READY TO LAUNCH ITALIAN RADAR REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE - SpaceX plans to launch an Italian Earth observation satellite with radar vision Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral on a twilight flight that could dazzle spectators with the ascent and descent of the reusable Falcon 9 booster. The mission is scheduled to get underway from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) Thursday. The launch will mark the fifth space mission to depart Florida’s Space Coast this month, and the fourth by SpaceX, continuing a busy start to 2022.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 27)

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