ANOTHER TRIO OF CHINESE MILITARY SATELLITES SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOYED - Weeks after the launch of an earlier trio of Chinese military satellites, another spacecraft triplet successfully took off Feb. 24 aboard a Long March 4C rocket on a clandestine mission that analysts believe may involve spying on foreign naval forces. The Yaogan 31 triplet launched at 0222 GMT on Feb. 24 (9:22 p.m. EST on Feb. 23) from the Jiuquan space base on the Gobi Desert of northwestern China. Liftoff occurred at 10:22 a.m. Beijing time.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 1)

SPACEWALKING ASTRONAUTS PREPARE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FOR NEW SOLAR ARRAYS - Two spacewalking astronauts began preparing the International Space Station (ISS) for new solar arrays on Sunday (Feb. 28), battling tough bolts to kick off a major power upgrade for the orbiting lab. Expedition 64 flight engineers Kate Rubins and Victor Glover — both NASA astronauts — spent more than seven hours working outside the station during the spacewalk to install modification kits for the new solar arrays. They worked on the station's portside edge to install a bracket and support struts on two mast canisters at the base of the outpost's current solar wings there, but were only able to install one of the kits while assembling a second and storing it for later.    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 1)

RUSSIA’S SOYUZ-2-1B LAUNCHES ARKTIKA-M NO.1 WEATHER SATELLITE - Russia launched the first in a new series of weather satellites to aid forecasting over its high-latitude regions. The Arktika-M No.1 satellite, aboard a Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat rocket, lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:55 local time (06:55 UTC) on Sunday bound for an elliptical Molniya orbit. The Arktika (Арктика, meaning “Arctic“) satellites will carry out a variety of missions to compliment other satellite constellations with additional coverage of Russia’s most northern regions.    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 28)

INDIAN ROCKET LAUNCHES BRAZILIAN SATELLITE TO TRACK AMAZON DEFORESTATION - An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle placed Brazil’s Amazonia 1 satellite into orbit Sunday to begin a mission monitoring deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, then released 18 smaller spacecraft at a lower altitude, marking a successful start to India’s 2021 launch schedule that could see as many as seven orbital-class rocket missions. The 144-foot-tall (44.4-meter) launch vehicle lifted off from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 11:54 p.m. EST Saturday (0454 GMT; 10:24 a.m. local time Sunday) and headed southeast from the spaceport on India’s east coast.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 28)

WATCH ISS SPACEWALK FEBRUARY 28 - Three International Space Station (ISS) crew members will conduct the first of a pair of spacewalks on Sunday, February 28, 2021, to ready the station for solar array upgrades. Live coverage will air on NASA TV, beginning at 4:30 a.m.EST (09:30 UTC; translate UTC to your time), with the astronauts scheduled to exit the station’s Quest airlock about 6:00 a.m. EST (11:00 UTC) The spacewalk will last approximately 6 1/2 hours. Watch here. The second spacewalk is scheduled for Friday, March 5.   More
(Source: EarthSky - Feb 27)

NASA ASTRONAUTS 'VERY BUSY' AHEAD OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SPACEWALK SUNDAY - Sometimes the people looking after a building get a little behind on maintenance. Sometimes the same thing happens to the people looking after the International Space Station. Two astronauts are preparing for a spacewalk this weekend to prepare for the upcoming replacement of the solar arrays designed to last 15 years and were installed on the ISS more than 20 years ago, according to NASA.   More
(Source: Fox News - Feb 26)

EGYPT TO LAUNCH SATELLITE AT END OF 2021 - Mohammed El-Qousi, head of the Egyptian Space Agency, said that Egypt is preparing to launch a satellite in December 2021, in addition to other projects to establish space science in the country. He said that Egypt had an ambitious plan to build space systems and infrastructure, as well as strengthen international space relations, explore space and establish Egyptian space law, according to the Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper.   More
(Source: Arab News - Feb 26)

SIZE OF CRACK ABOARD SPACE STATION UNCHANGED, SAYS RUSSIAN COSMONAUT - The size of a crack in the intermediate chamber of the Russian Zvezda module aboard the International Space Station (ISS) remains unchanged, cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov reported to Russia’s Flight Control Center on Wednesday. "It [the length] has not changed. As in the previous measurements, I do not see any changes," Ryzhikov said during his talks with Mission Control broadcast on NASA’s website.   More
(Source: TASS - Feb 25)

LONG MARCH 4C LAUNCHES LATEST BATCH OF YAOGAN- 31 SATELLITES - Three new satellites were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Wednesday. The new satellites form part of the Group-3 of the Yaogan Weixing-31 mission. The launch took place at 02:22 UTC from Launch Pad 94 of the LC43 launch complex using the Long March-4C (Y32) rocket. Yaogan Weixing-31 Group-03 is composed of three satellites, with Chinese media referring to the new satellites to be used “for electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests.”   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 25)

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