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)

CRUISE SHIP UNDER ROCKET’S FLIGHT PATH FORCES ANOTHER SPACEX LAUNCH SCRUB - A cruise ship that ventured under the planned flight path of a Falcon 9 rocket near Cape Canaveral Sunday forced SpaceX to delay launch of an Italian Earth-imaging satellite for a fourth time, setting up the mission for another try just after sunset Monday. SpaceX was set to fire a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but the Coast Guard could not clear a cruise liner out of the rocket’s downrange hazard area in time for the mission’s instantaneous launch opportunity.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)

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)

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