COSMONAUTS DRILL INTO ISS TO REPAIR AIR-LEAK CRACKS - A troublesome air leak on the International Space Station may finally get a permanent fix. The small but persistent leak led the ISS crew on quite a chase as they traced the culprit to the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module in 2020. Roscosmos cosmonauts pulled out a drill to help with the repairs. The minor leak appears to have been caused by two tiny cracks in the module's transfer chamber. The chamber includes a docking port for spacecraft. In a statement last week, Roscosmos said one of the cracks was less than an inch long.   More
(Source: CNET - Mar 9)

NASA-SPACEX LAUNCH OF NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREW PUSHED TO APRIL 22 - The next launch window for a NASA crew to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket has been pushed back by at least another two days, to no earlier than April 22, the space agency said. SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, had been scheduled to carry its second “operational” space station team into orbit for NASA in late March from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But NASA announced in January that the target date had slipped to April 20.   More
(Source: Reuters - Mar 9)

SATELLITE SET FOR MARCH 28 LAUNCH WILL HELP INDIA KEEP AN EYE ON BORDERS NEAR REAL-TIME - India plans to launch on March 28 an earth observation satellite that will provide it near real-time images of its borders and also enable quick monitoring of natural disasters. GISAT-1 is slated to be lofted into space by GSLV-F10 rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 kms north of Chennai.   More
(Source: The Hindu - Mar 8)

THE WORLD’S FIRST SPACE HOTEL TO OPEN IN 2027 - Those of us making grand postpandemic travel plans might want to consider the final frontier as a destination. That's because Orbital Assembly Corporation, a new construction company run by former pilot John Blincow, is planning to open a luxury space hotel by 2027. Voyager Station, as it's being called, would accommodate 280 guests and 112 crew members while aiming to be the first commercial space hotel, upon completion.   More
(Source: Architectural Digest - Mar 7)

MOUNT ETNA'S FIERY ERUPTIONS SEEN FROM SPACE (SATELLITE PHOTOS) - Mount Etna has been spewing lava across Sicily for weeks during a series of eruptions captured by a slew of Earth-orbiting satellites. Etna, the most active volcano in all of Europe, has been in a state of eruption since 2011. The latest series began on Feb. 16. The volcano erupted that day, again on Feb. 18 and then again between Feb. 20 and 23. During these eruptions, fountains of lava shot high into the night sky, reaching 0.4 miles (0.7 kilometers) high earlier in the month and getting 0.9 miles (1.5 km) over the volcano's summit later in the month.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 6)

RUBINS AND NOGUCHI ASSEMBLE SOLAR ARRAY SUPPORT FIXTURES OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi, a Japanese astronaut who last walked in space more than 15 years ago, ventured outside the International Space Station Friday and completed assembly of two solar array support fixtures, part of a $100 million power system upgrade. After handling multiple struts and bolts, Rubins reported a small pin-prick “hole” in one of her gloves and while there was no leakage and no emergency, she expressed concern about moving too far from Noguchi for additional work.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 6)

DELAYED INDONESIAN BROADBAND SATELLITE SATRIA FULLY FUNDED - Indonesia’s government has secured financing to continue manufacturing the SATRIA broadband satellite, although its intended orbital slot remains up in the air. Thales Alenia Space started developing the Ka-band spacecraft in September after receiving partial financing, which spokesperson Sandrine Bielecki told SpaceNews covered work up until this point. Bielecki said the program can continue uninterrupted now the project has secured about $545 million in funding, partly backed by France’s Bpifrance export-credit agency.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 5)

SPACEX STICKS 75TH FALCON ROCKET LANDING AFTER LAUNCHING 60 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES - Launching through a blanket of low-hanging clouds and light mist, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast early Thursday and delivered 60 more Starlink internet satellites to orbit. The rocket’s first stage touched down on SpaceX’s floating landing platform in the Atlantic Ocean to complete its eighth trip to space and back. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket flashed to life and lifted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 3:24:54 a.m. EST (0824:54 GMT).    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 4)

SPACEX TO TRY AGAIN TO LAUNCH LONG-DELAYED STARLINK MISSION - SpaceX is targeting Thursday, March 4 for the launch of the Starlink v1.0 L17 mission with a new batch of Starlink satellites from historic LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center aboard a flight proven Falcon 9 booster. The previous launch attempt on Sunday, February 28 ended in a scrub at T-1 minute 24 seconds. SpaceX is now targeting 03:24 EST (08:24 UTC) Thursday for the launch of the oft-delayed mission that originally had its launch date set for January 27. An additional launch window on Thursday morning is available at 05:42 EST, or 10:42 UTC.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 4)

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