STARTUP USING SOVIET-ERA TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD SATELLITE SERVICING VEHICLE - A Ukrainian startup is building an in-orbit servicing vehicle using space docking technology developed decades ago by the former Soviet Union. The startup, named Kurs Orbital, was co-founded by the former head of Ukraine’s space agency Volodymyr Usov. The company plans to launch a demonstration vehicle in 2023, Usov told SpaceNews. Investments are pouring into launch vehicles and satellites, and servicing could be the next segment of the industry to gain traction, he said.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 11)

TUNISIA TO LAUNCH FIRST SATELLITE ON MARCH 20 - Tunisia has announced that it will be launching its first satellite Challenge One on the 65th Independence day on March 20. The satellite will be launched by the Russian Soyuz-2 spacecraft from a base in Kazakhstan. The launch, scheduled for March 20, will also carry the SIMBA (System for Improving Monitoring of the Behavior of Wild Animals) satellite designed to track wild animals around the Kenyan National Parks.   More
(Source: SatelliteProME.com - Mar 11)

CHINA ROLLS OUT OUT NEW LONG MARCH 7A FOR SECOND LAUNCH ATTEMPT - China has quietly rolled a new-generation Long March 7A rocket at Wenchang ahead of a launch in the coming days. The 60-meter-long kerosene-liquid oxygen fueled Long March 7A was rolled out late March 7 Eastern. Launch could take place as soon as late March 10 Eastern from the coastal Wenchang launch center. The rocket will be the second Long March 7A launch attempt, aiming to place a large satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). It follows a failed first mission in March 2020.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 10)

SPACEX SCRUBS STARLINK V1.0 L20 MISSION - As SpaceX continues its push towards a new record number of launches in a single year, the company is preparing to launch the Starlink v1.0 L20 mission — the 20th launch of operational Starlink satellites and the 21st Starlink launch overall. An attempt scheduled for March 9th at 9:58 PM EST (02:58 UTC on March 10th) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was scrubbed to allow time for additional checkouts. The next opportunity is at 3:13 AM EST (08:13 UTC) on March 11th.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 10)

COSMONAUTS DRILL INTO ISS TO REPAIR AIR-LEAK CRACKS - A troublesome air leak on the International Space Station may finally get a permanent fix. The small but persistent leak led the ISS crew on quite a chase as they traced the culprit to the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module in 2020. Roscosmos cosmonauts pulled out a drill to help with the repairs. The minor leak appears to have been caused by two tiny cracks in the module's transfer chamber. The chamber includes a docking port for spacecraft. In a statement last week, Roscosmos said one of the cracks was less than an inch long.   More
(Source: CNET - Mar 9)

NASA-SPACEX LAUNCH OF NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREW PUSHED TO APRIL 22 - The next launch window for a NASA crew to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket has been pushed back by at least another two days, to no earlier than April 22, the space agency said. SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, had been scheduled to carry its second “operational” space station team into orbit for NASA in late March from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But NASA announced in January that the target date had slipped to April 20.   More
(Source: Reuters - Mar 9)

SATELLITE SET FOR MARCH 28 LAUNCH WILL HELP INDIA KEEP AN EYE ON BORDERS NEAR REAL-TIME - India plans to launch on March 28 an earth observation satellite that will provide it near real-time images of its borders and also enable quick monitoring of natural disasters. GISAT-1 is slated to be lofted into space by GSLV-F10 rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 kms north of Chennai.   More
(Source: The Hindu - Mar 8)

THE WORLD’S FIRST SPACE HOTEL TO OPEN IN 2027 - Those of us making grand postpandemic travel plans might want to consider the final frontier as a destination. That's because Orbital Assembly Corporation, a new construction company run by former pilot John Blincow, is planning to open a luxury space hotel by 2027. Voyager Station, as it's being called, would accommodate 280 guests and 112 crew members while aiming to be the first commercial space hotel, upon completion.   More
(Source: Architectural Digest - Mar 7)

MOUNT ETNA'S FIERY ERUPTIONS SEEN FROM SPACE (SATELLITE PHOTOS) - Mount Etna has been spewing lava across Sicily for weeks during a series of eruptions captured by a slew of Earth-orbiting satellites. Etna, the most active volcano in all of Europe, has been in a state of eruption since 2011. The latest series began on Feb. 16. The volcano erupted that day, again on Feb. 18 and then again between Feb. 20 and 23. During these eruptions, fountains of lava shot high into the night sky, reaching 0.4 miles (0.7 kilometers) high earlier in the month and getting 0.9 miles (1.5 km) over the volcano's summit later in the month.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 6)

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