TURKEY SECURES ORBITAL RIGHTS AFTER SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING 7TH SATELLITE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from a launchpad in the U.S. state of Florida to deploy a new-generation Turkish communication satellite into orbit late Thursday. The U.S. aerospace company’s 70-meter-tall (230-foot-tall) rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying the Türksat 5A satellite. “With the Türksat 5A satellite, Turkey is securing its orbital rights for the next 30 years,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday.   More
(Source: Daily Sabah - Jan 10)

CHINA GEARS UP FOR SPACE STATION, CARGO AND CREWED MISSION LAUNCHES - China is preparing to launch three major missions in the next few months to initiate the construction phase of the country’s space station project. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) is finalizing work on rockets which will launch the first space station module, a cargo and refueling craft and a crewed mission.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 9)

SPACEX LAUNCHES TURKSAT 5A COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE FOR TURKEY, LANDS ROCKET - SpaceX kicked off what is expected to be another launch-packed year by delivering a Turkish communications satellite to orbit tonight (Jan. 7). A 230-ft-tall (70 m) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m. EST (0215 GMT on Jan. 8), about 45 minutes into a planned four-hour window, carrying the Turksat 5A satellite into space. The brief delay was due to a downrange tracking issue, SpaceX said during its live launch broadcast.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 8)

CYGNUS CARGO SHIP LEAVES SPACE STATION TO TEST 5G TECH AND SPARK FIRES IN ORBIT - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship successfully left the International Space Station for a new mission Wednesday (Jan. 5) to test 5G communications technology and spark fires in orbit. The uncrewed Cygnus NG-14 spacecraft departed the space station at 10:10 a.m. EST (1510 GMT) after ground controllers released it from the Canadarm2 robotic arm.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 7)

SATELLITE DATA OF 40 YEARS SHOW HOW FAST ARCTIC SEA ICE IS SHRINKING - Year 2020 was extraordinary for the Arctic in many ways – from unprecedented wildfires to record breaking temperatures to one of the lowest sea ice in satellite record. And it ended the year with a similar grim news – the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDIC) measured sea ice at December 2020 end among the lowest in the satellite record as air temperatures for the month recorded higher than average in most areas.    More
(Source: Geospatial World - Jan 7)

INMARSAT WILL EXPAND THEIR GX SATELLITE FLEET - Inmarsat GX network currently includes five geostationary satellites, with four built by Boeing. Its GX5 satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space, was brought into commercial service on December 10, 2020, over Europe and the Middle East. The new scheme allows for five more satellites plus two GX payloads on two third-party satellites.   More
(Source: SatNews Publishers - Jan 7)

DARPA SATELLITES DAMAGED AT PROCESSING FACILITY AHEAD OF SPACEX LAUNCH - Two satellites from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that were part of an upcoming SpaceX rideshare mission have been damaged at the payload processing facility, the agency confirmed Jan. 6. The mishap happened on Jan. 4 at SpaceX’s launch processing facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida. DARPA’s satellites were scheduled to fly to orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-1 mission, SpaceX’s first dedicated rideshare mission scheduled to launch Jan. 14.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 7)

U.S. COMPANIES, LED BY SPACEX, LAUNCHED MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN 2020 - Leading all other nations, U.S. launch providers flew 44 missions in 2020 that aimed to place payloads in Earth orbit or deep space, with 40 successes. China followed with 35 successful orbital missions in 39 launch attempts. Russia’s space program was in third place with 17 successful launches of Russian-built rockets in as many tries, including two Soyuz missions from the European-run spaceport in French Guiana.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 6)

SPACE CALENDAR 2021: EVERY ROCKET LAUNCH, MARS MISSION, METEOR SHOWER AND MORE - The year 2020 AD did not turn out exactly as we would have liked down on Earth. But in space, it did prove to be momentous. SpaceX and NASA delivered astronauts to the International Space Station (twice!) aboard the Crew Dragon capsule, Japan and China brought back extraterrestrial rock to Earth and NASA scooped up some space chunks from asteroid Bennu. Excitement for Mars peaked in July, when three missions departed for the red planet. The Mars-bound spacecraft, from NASA, China and the United Arab Emirates, are en route now. They're set to arrive early in 2021.    More
(Source: CNET - Jan 6)

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