GALILEO SATELLITES GIVEN GREEN LIGHT FOR LAUNCH - The Launch Readiness Review on Nov. 26 confirmed that the satellites, the supporting ground installations, and the early operations facilities and teams are ready for lift-off on the early hours of Thursday morning, central European time. Galileo satellites 27 and 28 are scheduled to be launched by a Soyuz launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Dec. 2 at 01:31 CET (Dec. 1 at 21:31:27 local Kourou time).   More
(Source: GPS World - Dec 1)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE CHINASAT 1D - China continued its stream of rocket launches on Friday (Nov. 26) by lofting a new communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. A Long March 3B launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 11:40 a.m. EST Friday (1640 GMT, or 12:40 a.m. Nov. 27 local time). Orange and red exhaust briefly illuminated the launch pad and surrounding hills as the rocket rose from the pad and into the night sky.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 1)

DEBRIS WARNING POSTPONES NASA SPACEWALK - NASA has postponed a spacewalk that was scheduled for Tuesday after receiving a space debris warning for the International Space Station. Just hours before the astronauts were due to venture out of the ISS, the agency said on its Twitter account that "due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk," it had decided to delay the Nov. 30 spacewalk until more information was available.   More
(Source: CNN - Dec 1)

SLOW-SCAN TV TRANSMISSIONS FROM ISS SET FOR DECEMBER 1 – 2 - Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) plan to transmit slow-scan TV (SSTV) images on December 1 – 2 on 145.800 MHz FM using SSTV mode PD120. The transmissions from RS0ISS will be part of the Moscow Aviation Institute SSTV experiment (MAI-75) and will originate in the Russian ISS Service Module (Zvezda) using a Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver. Transmissions are scheduled for December 1 from 1210 – 1910 UTC and December 2 from 1140 – 1720 UTC. Dates and times are subject to change.   More
(Source: ARRL - Dec 1)

SPACE FORCE OFFICIAL: SATELLITES IN ORBIT HAVE BECOME PAWNS IN GEOPOLITICAL CHESS GAMES - China and Russia for decades have watched the United States display its military power, much of it enabled by satellites in space. China’s recent demonstration of an orbital hypersonic weapon and Russia blowing up a satellite in orbit are expected countermoves, said Space Force deputy chief of operations Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman. What is happening in space is a “natural consequence” of how military powers historically behave as they try to gain a leg up on adversaries, Saltzman said Nov. 29 during a Mitchell Institute online event.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 30)

RUSSIA ISSUES THREAT TO GPS SATELLITES - The Kremlin warned it could blow up 32 GPS satellites with its new anti-satellite technology, ASAT, which it tested Nov. 15 on a retired Soviet Tselina-D satellite, according to numerous news reports. Russia then claimed on state television that its new ASAT missiles could obliterate NATO satellites and “blind all their missiles, planes and ships, not to mention the ground forces,” said Russian Channel One TV host Dmitry Kiselyov, rendering the West’s GPS-guided missiles useless. “It means that if NATO crosses our red line, it risks losing all 32 of its GPS satellites at once.”   More
(Source: GPS World - Nov 30)

ASTRONAUT SPACEWALK TO REPLACE FAULTY SPACE STATION ANTENNA - A pair of NASA astronauts -- a veteran and a first-time space flyer -- are to venture outside the International Space Station on Tuesday to replace a broken antenna that helps the crew in space communicate with Earth. Thomas Marshburn, 61, and Kayla Barron, 34, will don spacesuits and exit the space station about 7:10 a.m. EST for some 6 1/2 hours, according to NASA's description.    More
(Source: UPI - Nov 30)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SHINES IN GORGEOUS FLY-AROUND PHOTOS BY CREW DRAGON ASTRONAUTS - It's been a decade since we've seen photos like these of the International Space Station. On Nov. 8, the Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, carrying the four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission, departed the orbiting lab after a 6.5-month stay. Endeavour didn't head directly home to Earth, however; it first performed a complete, 360-degree fly-around of the ISS, a maneuver not performed by a crewed spacecraft since NASA's space shuttle fleet retired in 2011.   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 30)

NASA GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO FUEL JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE - NASA engineers have cleared teams at the Guiana Space Center in South America to begin loading 63 gallons of fuel and oxidizer into the James Webb Space Telescope, after extra testing showed the observatory suffered no damage during a processing incident in the clean room earlier this month. During a “consent to fuel” review held Wednesday, Nov. 24, mission managers gave approval to begin the propellant loading process at the French Guiana spaceport the following day.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 29)

Previous Next