NEW CHINESE AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE COULD LAUNCH ON DECEMBER 25 - The CAMSAT XW-3 (CAS-9) amateur radio satellite has been installed on the CZ-4C Y39 launch vehicle at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China, and related work is in progress as planned, CAMSAT’s Alan Kung, BA1DU, reports. “If all goes well, the satellite will be launched on December 25, 2021.”   More
(Source: ARRL - Dec 22)

ISS SSTV TRANSMISSION SET FOR LATE DECEMBER - The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team will support Slow Scan TV (SSTV) transmissions from the International Space Station (ISS), December 26 – 31. The images will be related to lunar exploration. Transmissions should be available worldwide on 145.800 MHz FM, using SSTV mode PD120.   More
(Source: ARRL - Dec 22)

LAUNCH OF WEBB TELESCOPE DELAYED TO CHRISTMAS MORNING - A poor weather forecast at the Guiana Space Center in South America has forced officials to delay the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope by one day to Dec. 25, Christmas morning, mission managers said Tuesday. The 32-minute launch window Saturday opens at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT). Ground crews at the jungle spaceport in French Guiana planned to transfer the European Ariane 5 rocket with the Webb telescope on top to the ELA-3 launch zone Wednesday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 22)

YOU CAN WATCH SPACEX LAUNCH NASA SUPPLIES TO SPACE STATION EARLY TUESDAY - SpaceX will launch a Dragon spacecraft packed with NASA cargo to the International Space Station early Tuesday (Dec. 21) as part of its latest resupply mission for the U.S. space agency and you can watch it live. A shiny new SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take to the skies here from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:06 a.m. EST (1006 GMT). The two-stage launcher will blast off from Pad 39 lofting a robotic Dragon cargo capsule carrying more than 6,500 pounds (2,948 kilograms) of fresh supplies, experiment hardware, and other gear for the astronauts aboard the orbiting lab.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 21)

SPACEX’S FINAL LAUNCH OF THE YEAR SET FOR EARLY TUESDAY, WEATHER PERMITTING - SpaceX’s 31st and final Falcon 9 launch of the year is scheduled to take off early Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, weather permitting, with a Dragon cargo ship carrying more than 6,500 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station. With the upcoming flight, the privately-held company will launch a brand new Falcon 9 booster for just the second time in 31 missions in 2021. The year has seen SpaceX fly a reusable first stage for an 11th time, launch three crew missions, and 989 Starlink internet spacecraft, more than half of the company’s active fleet of broadband satellites.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 21)

SOYUZ MS-20 LANDS FOLLOWING 12-DAY ISS MISSION - Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and Japanese spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano have concluded their short, 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-20 – carried the trio home – undocked from the Station’s Poisk module on December 19 at 23:50 UTC, ahead of landing in Kazakhstan on December 20 at 03:13 UTC.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 20)

FALCON 9 SETS REUSE MILESTONE WITH STARLINK LAUNCH - A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a new set of Starlink satellites Dec. 18, setting a new reusability mark for the vehicle in the process. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:41 a.m. Eastern. The rocket’s upper stage deployed a payload of 52 satellites into a mid-inclination orbit nearly 16 minutes later. The rocket’s first stage landed on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” about eight and a half minutes after liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 19)

SPACEX LOFTS TURKISH COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE TO ORBIT IN 2ND FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH OF THE DAY - SpaceX launched its second rocket in less than 24 hours on Saturday night (Dec. 18), delivering a Turkish communications satellite into orbit before capping off the successful mission with a landing at sea. A 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:58 p.m. EST (0358 GMT on Dec. 19), at the beginning of a planned 90-minute window, carrying the Turksat 5B satellite into space.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 19)

SPACEX FALCON 9 SET FOR RARE 53 DEGREE INCLINATION LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG - NASASpaceFlight.com Forums L2 Sign Up Artemis SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other Shop SpaceX Falcon 9 set for rare 53 degree inclination launch from Vandenberg written by Trevor Sesnic December 17, 2021 In the company’s third-to-last launch of 2021, SpaceX will deploy another group of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit early on Saturday morning. The Starlink Group 4-4 mission will launch 52 Starlink satellites into a 53.22° inclination orbit at 4:41 AM PST (12:41 UTC) Saturday morning. The mission will lift off from SLC-4E (Space Launch Complex 4 East) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. But despite launching from the west coast, the mission is targeting the 53.2° shell – SpaceX’s first launch to a non-polar orbit from Vandenberg.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 18)

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