FRANCE RUNS SATELLITE WAR GAME IN EUROPEAN FIRST - France on Friday prepared to simulate an attack by a hostile power on one of its satellites in a war game scenario the government said is less outlandishly futuristic than it may seem. President Emmanuel Macron was to watch onsite as his military chiefs started to play out a four-day sequence in which an unnamed space-capable power attacks a nation allied to France, and tries to take out a French communications satellite.   More
(Source: The Defense Post - Mar 13)

CRITICS TAKE AIM AT SPACEX’S STARLINK, AMAZON’S PROJECT KUIPER AND OTHER SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS - SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb say their satellite mega-constellations will make broadband internet goodness available to billions of people around the world who are unserved or underserved — but some say those promises have to be weighed against the potential perils. These critics cite the risk of catastrophic satellite collisions, concerns about cybersecurity and worries about environmental and health impacts — including impacts on astronomical observations and the beauties of the night sky.   More
(Source: GeekWire - Mar 12)

CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW LONG MARCH 7A ON SECOND ATTEMPT - China launched a new-generation Long March 7A rocket Thursday, sending a classified, experimental payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Liftoff from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center occurred at 12:51 p.m. Eastern March 11. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the country’s main space contractor, confirmed launch success 40 minutes later (Chinese). The payload was the Shiyan-9, or “experiment-9”, technology verification satellite. It was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a CASC subsidiary.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 12)

SPACEX ADDS MORE SATELLITES TO STARLINK INTERNET FLEET - Continuing a high-tempo launch cadence, SpaceX delivered another batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites to orbit early Thursday after a seemingly flawless liftoff from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Then Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin 1D main engines roared to life and the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) launcher climbed away from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:13:29 a.m. EST (0813:29 GMT) Thursday, beginning SpaceX’s seventh mission of the year from Florida’s Space Coast.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 11)

NASA ASTRONAUT JOINS RUSSIAN SOYUZ CREW FOR APRIL FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, veteran of a 168-day stay in space in 2017-18, will join two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft April 9 for a flight back to the International Space Station in a deal brokered through Houston-based Axiom Space, NASA and the Russian space agency announced Tuesday. While NASA funded the development of SpaceX and Boeing commercial crew capsules to end the agency’s post-shuttle reliance on Russia for space transportation, continued launches aboard the Soyuz will ensure a U.S. presence on the lab even if an American spacecraft and crew are forced to make an unplanned departure.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 11)

BATA BLAST: SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW EQUATORIAL GUINEA DESTRUCTION - New satellite images reveal the extent of destruction in Equatorial Guinea's main city Bata following explosions at a munitions depot on Sunday. The official death toll has now reached 105, with at least 600 injured. Rights groups say the casualty figures could be significantly higher and have called for an independent investigation, with questions being asked about why stockpiles of explosives were being stored in a populated area.   More
(Source: BBC News - Mar 11)

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)

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