ROCKET LAB’S SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM NEW ZEALAND SITE FAILS - California-based Rocket Lab says a launch of satellites from its facility in New Zealand has failed. A company statement says the problem occurred during ignition of the Electron rocket’s second stage Saturday. The rocket was carrying two Earth-observation satellites for the global monitoring company BlackSky.    More
(Source: KTIV - May 16)

WOODEN SATELLITE TO LAUNCH BY YEAR’S END - The WISA Woodsat project, being sponsored by plywood supplier WISA in an unconventional PR initiative, is poised to place a wooden satellite into orbit by the end of the year. The idea is to test the suitability of treated wood as a low-cost and widely available material for space applications. The IARU posting for Woodsat indicates that several amateur radio experiments will be on board as well as photo downlinking, including selfies. The wooden satellite is based on a basic, versatile CubeSat format, Kitsat, which is designed with educational use in mind. It retails for just $1,500.    More
(Source: ARRL - May 15)

RUSSIAN FILM CREW PASSES MEDICAL CHECKS FOR OCTOBER LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - A Russian film director and actor, plus their backups, have passed preflight medical tests for an October launch to the International Space Station to shoot scenes for a movie dubbed "Challenge." The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, had previously announced that it was working with Channel One and the film studio Yellow, Black and White on a movie to be shot partially in space. The project opened a competition last year for women interested in a starring role in the film, which would be directed by Klim Shipenko, who would also launch for the filming.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 15)

RUSSIAN ACTRESS, JAPANESE ENTREPRENEUR CLEARED FOR SPACE STATION VISITS - Russian actress Yulia Peresild and filmmaker Klim Shipenko will join cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov for a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station on Oct. 5 to shoot scenes for an upcoming movie, the Russian space agency announced Thursday. “At the end of 2020, an open competition was announced for the lead role in the first feature film to be filmed in space,” Roscosmos said on its website. Peresild, 36, and Shipenko, 37, were selected “based on the results of medical and creative selection.” Training will begin in June.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 15)

RUSSIA’S NEXT-GENERATION GLONASS-K2 NAVIGATION SATELLITE TO BE ORBITED IN LATE 2021 - An inaugural launch of a Glonass-K2 satellite for Russia’s global Glonass orbital navigation system is scheduled to be held late this year, CEO of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company (the satellites’ producer) Nikolai Testoyedov told TASS on Thursday. "We are launching our first Glonass-K2 satellite this year," Testoyedov said. "This launch is planned for the fourth quarter of the year."    More
(Source: TASS - May 14)

A NEW CONSTELLATION? SPACE FORCE WANTS TO GET INTO TACTICAL SATELLITE IMAGERY BUSINESS - he head of the U.S. Space Force wants the new service to take on a new mission: providing tactical satellite imagery to the joint forces. He didn’t explain whether that means the service would try to build its own satellite constellation. “There’s a role here for the Space Force in tactical level ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance],” said Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond at the 12th annual McAleese Conference May 12. “I really believe this is an area that we’ll begin to migrate to because we can do it, and we can do it in a way that doesn’t break the bank and is focused on our joint and coalition partners.”   More
(Source: C4ISRNet - May 13)

NASA WALLOPS ROCKET LAUNCH POSTPONED AGAIN - NASA has again postponed the launch of the KiNET-X sounding rocket from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The next launch opportunity will be no earlier than Wednesday May 12, at 8:06 p.m. The Sunday and Monday launches were postponed due to “upper level winds not being within the limits for a safe launch.” The original launch was planned for last Friday, but has been moved each night due to the weather.   More
(Source: CBSN Boston - May 12)

NASA AND AXIOM INK DEAL FOR 1ST PRIVATE ASTRONAUT MISSION TO SPACE STATION - NASA and Texas-based company Axiom Space have agreed on terms for the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, which will launch as soon as January 2022. The agreement, which was announced on Monday (May 10), includes only a portion of the assorted exchanges required to make a flight like this a reality, but it will result in a net payment from NASA to Axiom of $1.69 million.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 12)

WATCH LIVE TUESDAY: NASA SOUNDING ROCKET LAUNCH TO MAKE COLORFUL CLOUD SHOW OVER EASTERN US - NASA will launch a Black Brant XII sounding rocket from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia today (May 10), and you can watch it live online or in person. Observers in the eastern U.S. will have an opportunity to see a colorful light show following the rocket's liftoff, weather permitting. The sounding rocket will release nontoxic barium vapor that will form two visible, green-violet clouds in the evening sky. The clouds will remain visible for about 30 seconds, according to NASA.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 11)

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