CHINA HAS 3 NEW SPY SATELLITES IN ORBIT AFTER LONG MARCH 4C LAUNCH - The China National Space Administration launched another trio of satellites into orbit late Friday (March 12), adding to its network of spy satellites observing regions nearby Chinese territory. The fresh set of Yaogan 31-series satellites launched at 9:19 p.m. EST Friday (0219 GMT Saturday or 10:39 a.m. local time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, near the Gobi desert, according to local reports.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 20)

US SPACE FORCE CONFIRMS BREAKUP OF DECOMMISSIONED WEATHER SATELLITE NOAA-17 - US decommissioned weather satellite NOAA-17 has exploded in space, breaking into 16 pieces, the 18th Space Control Squadron (SPCS) of the US Space Force said on Friday. "#18SPCS has confirmed the breakup of NOAA 17 ... on March 10, 2021, at 0711 UTC. NOAA 17 was decommissioned in 2013. Tracking 16 associated pieces – no indication caused by collision," the squadron wrote on Twitter.   More
(Source: Sputnik International - Mar 19)

NASA AND SPACEX SIGN A SPECIAL INFO SHARING AGREEMENT TO HELP AVOID STARLINK COLLISIONS - NASA doesn’t just let anyone launch whatever they want to space without checking in with the agency about potential impacts to its own assets on orbit, including the International Space Station (ISS). The agency has a standard set of guidelines around so-called “Conjunction Assessment,” which is basically to determine the risk that a close approach between in-space objects might occur, which in turn could potentially result in a collision. This assessment determines when and where something flies, as you might expect.   More
(Source: TechCrunch - Mar 19)

THREE ENTIRELY NEW LIFEFORMS DISCOVERED ON SPACE STATION - American and Indian scientists have examined four bacterial strains from the station and found that the three belonged to a species previously unknown to science. The rod-shaped bacteria were found roughly five years ago in different locations on the station: one on the surface of a dining table, one on an overhead panel at a research station, and another in the Cupola observatory dome.   More
(Source: Sky News - Mar 19)

SATELLITES CAN HELP DETECT WHEN A VOLCANO'S ABOUT TO BLOW - Just as we can often spot the beginnings of an illness from a number of signs, there are symptoms of volcanic activity that can indicate a growing likelihood of eruption. Monitoring them can involve detecting surface changes and small earthquakes caused by the movement of magma inside a volcano, or measuring changes in gases emitted from vents. Signs like these are used to raise alerts and trigger evacuations, and they have saved lives. But they aren’t always perfect.   More
(Source: WIRED - Mar 19)

SATELLITE THAT CAN CLEAN UP SPACE JUNK WITH A MAGNET ABOUT TO LAUNCH - A satellite is about to demonstrate a new way of capturing space junk with magnets for the first time. With the frequency of space launches dramatically increasing in recent years, the potential for a disastrous collision above Earth is continually growing. Now, Japanese orbital clean-up company Astroscale is testing a potential solution. The firm’s End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration mission is scheduled to lift off on 20 March aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. It consists of two spacecraft: a small “client” satellite and a larger “servicer” satellite, or “chaser”.    More
(Source: New Scientist - Mar 18)

ARISS HAM STATION IN COLUMBUS MODULE IS ONCE AGAIN OPERATIONAL - Some 6 weeks after going silent following a spacewalk that installed new antenna cabling, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ham station in the Columbus module is once again operational. The Columbus station, which typically uses the call sign NA1SS, is the primary ARISS amateur radio station used for school contacts and other activities. A January 27 spacewalk replaced a coax feed line installed 11 years ago with another built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus.   More
(Source: ARRL - Mar 17)

CPUT TO LAUNCH SOUTH AFRICAN MINI-CONSTELLATION OF THREE SATELLITES - CPUT is expected to launch the first South African mini-constellation of three satellites for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDASat-1) towards the end of 2021. This mission, named MDASat-1, will use Automatic Identification System (AIS) data to monitor the waters off South Africa’s coast for shipping movements within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). AIS is a radio system used for the tracking of maritime traffic, primarily for collision avoidance. The location messages received by the satellites from ships on the ocean beneath it is downloaded from the satellite when it passes over the ground station at CPUT.   More
(Source: Space in Africa - Mar 17)

STUDENT-BUILT SATELLITE RETURNS AFTER TWO AND A HALF YEARS IN SPACE - Brown Space Engineering’s first ever student-built satellite, EQUiSat, reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Dec. 26, 2020, after over 14,000 trips around Earth. Brown students had the opportunity to track the satellite as it traveled around Earth and work directly with NASA to test the use of LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries in space.    More
(Source: The Brown Daily Herald - Mar 17)

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