AIR FORCE NTS-3 NAVIGATION SATELLITE TO LAUNCH IN 2023 - The Air Force Research Laboratory is planning a 2023 launch of the NTS-3 experimental satellite the U.S. military will use for positioning, navigation and timing. AFRL previously announced the launch would be in 2022 but the mission will slip into 2023, AFRL Commander Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle told reporters April 28. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 30)
VEGA ROCKET RETURNS TO FLIGHT WITH EUROPE'S MOST ADVANCED EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE YET - Europe's Vega rocket returned to flight late Wednesday (April 28), delivering to orbit Europe's most advanced Earth observation satellite to date. The mission by the European launch provider Arianespace lifted off from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana, at 9:50 p.m EDT (0150 April 29 GMT), carrying the Pléiades Neo 3 Earth observation satellite and five small "rideshare" payloads. It was the first Vega launch since November, when a failure of its Avum upper stage resulted in a loss of two Earth observation satellites. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 30)
RECORD-BREAKING PROGRESS MS-14 UNDOCKS FROM SPACE STATION - The autonomous Russian cargo ship Progress MS-14 undocked from the International Space Station after spending a record one year at the orbiting outpost. Launched April 25, 2020, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the automated cargo freighter docked with the aft port of the Zvezda module ISS just 3 hours, 20 minutes later — a little over two orbits after liftoff. More (Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Apr 29)
GLONASS TO LAUNCH FIRST NEW-GENERATION K2 SATELLITE LATE THIS YEAR - The launch of the first next-generation GLONASS K2 satellite is set for late 2021, according to a statement by Nikolai Testoyedov, CEO of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company, the satellites’ producer. The satellite will begin the next modernization phase of Russia’s GNSS. “We are launching our first GLONASS-K2 satellite this year,” Testoyedov stated to the Russian TASS news agency. “This launch is planned for the fourth quarter of the year.” More (Source: Inside GNSS - Apr 29)
LAUNCH OF EXPERIMENTAL MILITARY NAVIGATION SATELLITE PUSHED BACK TO 2023 - A rideshare delay has pushed back the launch of the U.S. military’s new experimental navigation satellite to 2023, but the Air Force Research Laboratory says it can use the extra time to reduce risks and conduct more ground testing. Navigation Technology Satellite 3, originally set for launch in 2022, will help guide future GPS satellites, a priority area for the military as the technology has become easier to spoof and jam. More (Source: C4ISRNet - Apr 29)
SPACEX AND ONEWEB SATELLITES DIDN'T HAVE A CLOSE CALL IN SPACE AFTER ALL: REPORT - It turns out that the recent "near miss" collision between two SpaceX and OneWeb internet satellites in orbit wasn't a "close call" at all, and the satellites weren't actually in danger of crashing, SpaceX has revealed. On March 30, OneWeb reported several "red alerts" from the 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS) of the U.S. Space Force, indicating a 1.3%change that a OneWeb satellite might collide with one of SpaceX's Starlink satellites. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 29)
STARLINK V1.0 L24 LAUNCHES AS SPACEX RECEIVES PERMISSION FOR STARLINK MODIFICATIONS - SpaceX launched the Starlink v1.0 L24 mission with another 60 satellites for the Starlink internet constellation late on Wednesday, April 28 at 11:44 PM EDT (03:44 UTC on April 29) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Just Read the Instructions, one of the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships (ASDS) that SpaceX uses to land their boosters at sea, was positioned about 600 kilometers downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 29)
CHINA LAUNCHES CORE MODULE OF NEW SPACE STATION TO ORBIT - The construction of China's space station is underway. The core element of the Chinese Space Station launched to Earth orbit tonight (April 28), lifting off at 11:23 p.m. EDT (0323 GMT on April 29) atop a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the island of Hainan. The 59-foot-long (18 meters) module, known as Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens"), is the first space station component to launch. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 29)
RETURN OF SPACEX CREW CAPSULE DELAYED BY HIGH WINDS - High winds predicted off the coast of Florida this week will keep SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft and its four-person crew in orbit until Saturday, three days after their previously scheduled return to Earth from the International Space Station. NASA announced Monday that the return of the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft would be delayed. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 28)
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