THE US AIR FORCE WANTS TO BEAM SOLAR POWER TO EARTH FROM SPACE (VIDEO) - Space-based solar power won't be just a sci-fi dream forever, if things go according to the U.S. Air Force's plans. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is developing a project called SSPIDR ("Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research"), which aims to mature the technology needed to harvest solar energy in space and beam it down for use on Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 26)

SOYUZ ROCKET SET TO LAUNCH MORE ONEWEB INTERNET SATELLITES - A Soyuz rocket is standing on a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East for liftoff Sunday with the next 36 satellites for OneWeb’s internet network, the sixth Soyuz mission dedicated to the commercial broadband constellation. The 36 satellites, built on Florida’s Space Coast by a joint venturer between between OneWeb and Airbus, are stowed inside the nose cone of a Soyuz-2.1b rocket at Vostochny, Russia’s newest spaceport in the far eastern Amur Oblast near the Chinese border.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 25)

SPACEX'S FIRST REUSED CREW DRAGON DOCKS AT SPACE STATION WITH FOUR CREW-2 ASTRONAUTS - A used SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the company's Crew-2 mission docked successfully at the orbiting lab early Saturday (April 24). The Crew Dragon Endeavour, which launched SpaceX's first crewed flight for NASA in May 2020, linked up with the station's U.S. built Harmony module at 5:08 a.m. EDT (0908 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 264 miles above the Indian Ocean.    More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 24)

OFF THE EARTH, FOR THE EARTH; ENDEAVOUR LIFTS OFF WITH INTERNATIONAL CREW FOR SIX MONTH MISSION - SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour began its second mission Friday with a crew of four astronauts on a long-duration trip to the International Space Station. Liftoff, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, occurred right on time at 05:49:02 EDT / 09:49:02 UTC on Friday, 23 April 2021. The Crew-2 mission will see Endeavour carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to join the Expedition 65 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS).    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 23)

BURPS IN SPACE: NEW SATELLITE TO TRACK GLOBAL METHANE EMISSIONS - In space, no-one can hear you belch – at least, not for the time being. New Zealand has announced mission control for a new satellite that will orbit the earth observing methane produced by burps or other flatulence from cows. The digestive processes of its 6.3 million-strong cow population are among New Zealand’s most critical environmental problems. Agriculture is one of the country’s biggest producers of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global heating and climate breakdown.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Apr 23)

SPACEX AND ONEWEB SPAR OVER SATELLITE CLOSE APPROACH - An alleged close approach between satellites from OneWeb and SpaceX led to a meeting between the companies and the Federal Communications Commission, but the companies don’t completely agree on what resulted from that discussion. OneWeb officials said in early April that they had to move one of their satellites to avoid a close approach with a SpaceX Starlink satellite. The OneWeb satellite, OneWeb-0178, was one of 36 satellites launched March 25 on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 23)

CHINA IS DEVELOPING PLANS FOR A 13,000-SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATION - China is to oversee the construction and operation of a national satellite internet megaconstellation through coordinating the country’s major space actors. Recent comments by senior officials indicate that plans are moving ahead to alter earlier constellation plans by space sector state-owned enterprises and possibly make these part of a larger “Guowang” or “national network” satellite internet project.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 22)

NASA TO LAUNCH NEW BROWN STUDENT SATELLITE - This month, NASA announced that a small satellite to be designed and built by Brown students has a ticket to ride on a future rocket launch. The news arrived just a few months after a prior Brown student-built satellite ended a successful mission of more than two and a half years in space. The new satellite, dubbed PVDX, is a cubesat — a class of miniature satellites ideal for doing low-cost science experiments or technology demonstration in space.   More
(Source: Brown University - Apr 22)

CREW DRAGON LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION DELAYED TO FRIDAY BY OFFSHORE WEATHER - Launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed 24 hours to Friday because of bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean where the crew could be forced to ditch in an emergency, NASA announced Wednesday. Originally scheduled for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday, the flight was reset for 5:49 a.m. Friday, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carries pad 39A directly under the space station’s orbital path — a requirement for spacecraft trying to rendezvous with a target in low-Earth orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 21)

Previous Next