AN OPEN SYSTEM FOR MISSILE-WARNING SATELLITE DATA IS IN THE WORKS BUT FACES CHALLENGES - During a deadly wildfire season that ravaged California in 2018, the U.S. Forest Service used data from the Air Force’s overhead missile-warning satellites to help spot new fires and flareups. Although the satellites are owned and operated by the U.S. military, sharing data with the Forest Service was difficult because the ground stations use proprietary technology designed decades ago by the Air Force’s prime contractor Lockheed Martin.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 2)

SPACEX FIRES UP NEXT EIGHT-FLIGHT FALCON 9 BOOSTER FOR TUESDAY STARLINK LAUNCH - Ending a few-day delay, SpaceX has successfully static-fired Falcon 9 B1049 at Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A – now set to become the company’s second eight-flight booster as early as 6:19 am EST (11:19 UTC). Originally scheduled to occur as early as Friday, January 29th, Falcon 9 B1049’s static fire test was delayed for unknown reasons and then aborted late into the countdown on the 30th before SpaceX was able to complete the test on Sunday afternoon.    More
(Source: Teslarati - Feb 2)

SPACEX EYES STARLINK SATELLITE LAUNCH ON MONDAY - SpaceX is gearing up to launch more Starlink satellites with its eye on Monday to put 60 additional satellites into orbit. The target launch date is February 1, which does represent a delay with the mission initially planned to launch Sunday morning. SpaceX is working hard to put more Starlink satellites into orbit to support its Internet service. The liftoff on Monday is scheduled for 6:41 AM from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A.    More
(Source: SlashGear - Feb 1)

UMBRA RAISES $32 MILLION FOR RADAR SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - Earth observation startup Umbra raised $32 million in an investment round led by the family office venture fund of Passport Capital founder John Burbank with participation from existing Umbra investors including CrossCut Ventures, Starbridge Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures and PonValley. Umbra, based in Santa Barbara, California and previously known as Umbra Lab, is preparing to launch its first microsatellite this year to provide Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery with a resolution of less than 25 centimeters.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 1)

BELGIAN SECURITY FORCES HAVE A NEW EYE IN THE SKY WITH SPY SATELLITE - In the last few days, Belgium’s military intelligence service has access to a new state-of-the-art spy satellite providing the sharpest images so far available in Europe, the VRT reports. The new satellite is part of a joint project with France and Germany, and will be used by the General Intelligence and Security Service of the armed forces. The satellite is the second of three involved in the programme, and communicates with Earth by contacting the Swedish polar station at Kiruna at 30-minute intervals.    More
(Source: The Brussels Times - Jan 31)

AIRBUS SIGNS MULTI-SATELLITE CONTRACT WITH INTELSAT - Airbus has signed a contract with Intelsat to build two OneSat satellites operating in multiple frequency bands for Intelsat’s next-generation software-defined network. The contract was signed on 31 December 2020. The satellites will be based on Airbus’ OneSat product line, the latest generation of fully flexible, in orbit reconfigurable, Software Defined Satellites (SDS).   More
(Source: SatelliteProME.com - Jan 30)

CHINA LAUNCHES MILITARY SPY SATELLITE TRIO INTO ORBIT - China launched three Yaogan military satellites Friday on a Long March 4C rocket, adding to a fleet of spacecraft independent analysts believe are designed to spy on naval forces. The three Yaogan 31-series satellites lifted off aboard a three-stage, liquid-fueled Long March 4C rocket at 0447 GMT Friday (11:47 p.m. EST Thursday), according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, China’s largest state-run aerospace contractor.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 30)

RADFXSAT-2 SIGNALS DETECTED, AMSAT ENGINEERING CONTINUES TO ASSESS STATUS - On January 27th, Brad Schumacher, W5SAT, reported copying his CW signal weakly via the RadFxSat-2 transponder. On the morning of January 28th, AMSAT Engineering and Operations confirmed these reports and determined that RadFxSat-2 is partially functioning, though signals are extremely weak. AMSAT thanks W5SAT for his report. We also appreciate those who joined in determining whether they could detect their own or other signals in recent passes today.   More
(Source: AMSAT - Jan 29)

ARISS AND PARTNERS ARE INVESTIGATING SPACE STATION HAM RADIO FAILURE - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) and its partners are troubleshooting the failure of the on-board NA1SS amateur station in the ISS Columbus module. ARISS was alerted of the problem when a contact with a school in Wyoming, between ON4ISS on Earth and astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, at NA1SS, had to abort when no downlink signal was heard. “Today was a tough one for ARISS,” ARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, began in a message on January 28 to the ARISS team.    More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 29)

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