ADVANCED NEW GOES-T WEATHER SATELLITE IS 'GO' FOR LAUNCH ON MARCH 1, NASA SAYS - The next advanced weather satellite for the United States is officially ready to launch into orbit this week on an Atlas V rocket. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cleared the new GOES-T weather satellite for a planned March 1 launch, the two agencies announced Saturday (Feb. 26). Liftoff is set for 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with the United Launch Alliance conducting the flight.   More
(Source: - Feb 28)

THE RUSSIAN INVASION TOUCHES OUTER SPACE - This week, as Russia unleashed a violent assault on Ukraine, the director of Russia’s space agency went on a rant. After President Joe Biden announced on Thursday new sanctions against Russia that would, among other effects, “degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program,” Dmitry Rogozin responded with a series of tweets about the International Space Station: “Do you want to destroy our cooperation on the ISS? If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and a fall on the United States or Europe? … The ISS doesn’t fly over Russia, so the risks are all yours.”   More
(Source: The Atlantic - Feb 28)

ULA: RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE WON’T IMPACT REMAINING ATLAS 5 MISSIONS - United Launch Alliance said Friday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have no impact on the company’s Atlas 5 rocket program, which has 25 missions left to fly with Russian-made main engines before retirement. The launch provider said it has all the Russian engines it needs before transitioning to a replacement rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, with U.S.-made engines produced by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space company.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 28)

NASA SHRUGS OFF ROSCOSMOS LEADER'S RANT OVER U.S. SANCTIONS AND SPACE STATION - NASA on Friday shrugged off public comments from the head of its Russian counterpart suggesting U.S. sanctions imposed against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis could "destroy" U.S.-Russian teamwork on the International Space Station (ISS). Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Russian space agency Roscosmos, took to Twitter on Thursday denouncing new constraints on high-tech exports to Russia that U.S. President Joe Biden said were designed to "degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program."   More
(Source: Reuters - Feb 28)

CHINA LAUNCHES CZ-8 ON 22 SATELLITE RIDESHARE MISSION - NASASpaceFlight.com Forums L2 Sign Up Artemis SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other Shop China launches CZ-8 on 22 satellite rideshare mission written by Adrian Beil February 27, 2022 China launched the second Chang Zheng 8 on Sunday from LC-201 at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. The liftoff occurred at 03:06 UTC and was confirmed a success an hour later. The mission flew to a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) and took a variety of payloads to space on a rideshare mission. The full weight of the payload, including the adaptor, was 2.6 tons, with the satellites massing 1.7 tons. On this mission, the rideshare included 22 payloads, hence the name “One Arrow, 22 Stars”.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 27)

CHINA’S LONG MARCH 4C LAUNCHES LUDI TANCE RADAR IMAGING SATELLITE - China’s Long March 4C (Chang Zheng 4C) made its fortieth launch on Saturday, carrying the second Ludi Tance radar-imaging satellite. Liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center took place at 23:44 UTC (07:44 local time on Sunday), with the satellite being deployed into a sun-synchronous orbit shortly afterward. Saturday’s launch of the Ludi Tance-1 01B satellite, also known as L-SAR 01B, follows on from the launch of Ludi Tance-1 01A at the end of January. The two spacecraft are the first to launch for a new Chinese civilian radar imaging constellation deployed in low Earth orbit.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 27)

U.S. SPACE COMMAND NEEDS HELP IDENTIFYING HOSTILE INTENT IN SPACE - If Russia or any other actor were to intentionally interfere with U.S. satellites, it would be difficult to identify the aggressor, said the top commander of U.S. military space operations. “The challenge in the space domain is determining intent,” Gen. James Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, said Feb. 23. Dickinson spoke at the National Security Space Association’s Defense and Intelligence Space Conference via video conference from Colorado Springs.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 26)

RUSSIA HALTS SOYUZ LAUNCHES FROM FRENCH GUIANA - Roscosmos announced Feb. 26 that it is halting cooperation with Europe on Soyuz launches from French Guiana and withdrawing its personnel from the launch site in response to European sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches” from French Guiana, Roscosmos said in a pair of tweets, citing a statement by its head, Dmitry Rogozin. The agency said it will withdraw the 87 employees of several Russian companies that support Soyuz launches there, although the details of that withdrawal are “being worked out.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 26)

STARLINK LOSS HIGHLIGHTS CURRENT SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CAPABILITIES, COMING ADVANCEMENTS - On February 8, 2022, SpaceX announced the loss of around 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites launched on the Starlink Group 4-7 mission from LC-39A on February 3. For spacecraft initially orbiting at low altitudes, as the Starlinks did at the time upon deployment, many factors can lead to a craft not reaching its final intended orbit. However, the loss of the Group 4-7 satellites ultimately traces back to the Sun.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 26)

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