CAPE CANAVERAL’S BUSY JANUARY TO CONTINUE WITH ANOTHER STARLINK LAUNCH - Forecasters expect brisk winds and chilly temperatures for a prime time, full moon launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with another batch of Starlink internet satellites Monday night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There’s a 70 percent chance of good conditions for launch at 7:26 p.m. EST Monday (0026 GMT), according to a forecast issued Saturday morning by the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron. There’s a backup instantaneous launch opportunity at 9:24 p.m. EST (0224 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 16)

SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET SPOTTED FROM SPACE BEFORE AND AFTER EPIC 105-SATELLITE LAUNCH - SpaceX has some nice before-and-after photos to mark the 10th launch of one of its Falcon 9 rockets, thanks to a satisfied customer. A Falcon 9 successfully delivered 105 satellites to orbit Thursday (Jan. 13), including 44 "SuperDove" cubesats for Planet, a San Francisco-based company that operates the world's biggest constellation of Earth-observing satellites.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 15)

NASA TV TO AIR SPACEX CARGO DRAGON DEPARTURE FROM SPACE STATION - A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station Friday, Jan. 21. NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app will provide live broadcast of the spacecraft’s undocking and departure beginning at 10:15 a.m. EST. Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will send commands at 10:40 a.m. for Dragon to undock from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station. Controllers will command a deorbit burn the following day.   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 105 SMALL SATELLITES INTO ORBIT, NAILS ROCKET LANDING - SpaceX successfully launched its second rocket of the year Thursday morning (Jan. 13) as one of its veteran boosters carried 105 small satellites into orbit before landing back on Earth. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off into a clear blue sky at 10:25 a.m. EST (1525 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here in Florida, carrying dozens of small satellites.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 14)

VIRGIN ORBIT LAUNCHES MISSION STP-27VPB “ABOVE THE CLOUDS” - Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne and its 747 carrier aircraft “Cosmic Girl” have launched the US Defense Department’s STP-27VPB mission along with three commercial satellites. The launch occurred on Thursday, January 13 at approximately 2:51 PM PST (22:51 UTC). Cosmic Girl took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port before flying out to the launch zone near the Channel Islands off the southern California coast.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 14)

EIGHT-SATELLITE TEVEL MISSION TO LAUNCH ON JANUARY 13 - The TEVEL mission, which consists of eight satellites carrying amateur radio FM transponders, is set to launch on January 13 at 1525 UTC on the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-3 mission, which also carries AMSAT-Spain’s (AMSAT-EA) EASAT-2 and HADES satellites. The TEVEL satellites were developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel.   More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 13)

NEW NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST PLEDGES A PLAN TO RENEW AGENCY'S EARTH SATELLITE FLEET - NASA's newly appointed science and Earth science lead says there is "more to plan" when it comes to figuring out next priorities for the agency's aging satellite fleet. Katherine Calvin is the first NASA chief scientist to also act as the agency's senior climate advisor, a role created in February 2021. Calvin is serving in the roles under a temporary assignment from her long-time base at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Joint Global Change Research Institute. Calvin comes to the agency as NASA works to implement a new Earth System Observatory, first announced in May 2021.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 13)

CHINA’S MEGACONSTELLATION PROJECT ESTABLISHES SATELLITE CLUSTER IN CHONGQING - A group leading China’s national low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation has founded two new firms to help develop the project, but overall plans remain vague. China Satellite Network Application Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Satellite Network System Research Institute Co., Ltd. were established in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, Dec. 29, to jointly construct a satellite Internet industry system in the city of Chongqing, Chinese language state media Science and Technology Daily reports.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 13)

COSMONAUTS PREP FOR SPACEWALK AS ASTRONAUTS WORK SCIENCE AND MAINTENANCE - In one week the first spacewalk of 2022 is set begin at the International Space Station. Two Expedition 66 crew members are getting their spacesuits ready as the rest of the crew works research and maintenance. Station Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov are due to exit the Poisk module in their Russian Orlan spacesuits on Jan. 19 at 7 a.m. EDT. They will spend about seven hours configuring both the Prichal docking module and the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module in the vacuum of space.   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 13)

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