SPACE COMMAND CALLS OUT ANOTHER RUSSIAN ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPON TEST - Russia conducted its second test this year of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile test, according to a U.S. Space Command, yet again drawing sharp criticism from the U.S. “Russia has made space a war-fighting domain by testing space-based and ground-based weapons intended to target and destroy satellites. This fact is inconsistent with Moscow’s public claims that Russia seeks to prevent conflict in space,” said Space Command head Gen. James Dickinson in a statement. “Space is critical to all nations.    More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Dec 17)

INDIA READYING PSLV ROCKET TO LAUNCH CMS-01 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, is preparing for their second launch of 2020 using their workhorse rocket: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV. The mission will carry the CMS-01 replacement communications satellite to orbit on Thursday, 17 December at 10:11 UTC, or 05:11 EST. The launch is scheduled to occur locally at 15:41 IST (Indian Standard Time) from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s east coast.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 17)

INCREDIBLE SATELLITE VIEW OF THE MOON’S SHADOW CROSSING THE SURFACE OF EARTH DURING THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE - The first and only total solar eclipse of 2020 occurred on December 14, with the path of totality stretching from the equatorial Pacific to the South Atlantic and passing through southern Argentina and Chile. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16 (GOES-16) captured images of the shadow of the Moon crossing the surface of Earth.   More
(Source: SciTechDaily - Dec 16)

ROCKET LAB CLOSES OUT YEAR WITH LAUNCH OF SYNSPECTIVE’S FIRST RADAR SATELLITE - Rocket Lab’s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world. The liquid-fueled Electron rocket’s kick stage deployed Synspective’s StriX-α demonstration satellite into a roughly 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) sun-synchronous polar orbit around an hour after liftoff, Rocket Lab said in a statement.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 16)

NASA ASSIGNS ASTRONAUTS FOR THIRD SPACEX COMMERCIAL CREW MISSION - NASA has selected three astronauts for a future SpaceX commercial crew mission to the International Space Station as it leaves open the possibility of exchanging seats with Russia. NASA and the European Space Agency jointly announced Dec. 14 they had assigned NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer to the SpaceX Crew-3 mission. That commercial crew mission is scheduled for launch in the fall of 2021.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 15)

SIRIUSXM’S NEW SATELLITE IS IN ORBIT - A new satellite serving SiriusXM is in orbit and “performing properly” after a Sunday launch. That announcement was made by the company along with Maxar Technologies, which built the satellite, and SpaceX, which launched it. SXM-7 Ready For Launch. SpaceX The SXM-7 ready for launch in an image from SpaceX. The satellite is SXM-7 and it has an expected service life of 15 years.    More
(Source: Radio World - Dec 15)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES NEW ANGARA A5 ROCKET ON SECOND TEST FLIGHT IN NIGHTTIME LIFTOFF - Six years after acing its first test flight, Russia's monster Angara A5 heavy-lift rocket has done it again. The rocket launched flawlessly Monday (Dec. 14) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 12:50 a.m. EST (0550 GMT or 8:50 a.m. Moscow time), according to Russian space agency Roscosmos. Roscosmos also confirmed the Breeze-M upper stage and a mock spacecraft successfully separated from the launch vehicle 12 minutes and 28 seconds after the liftoff.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 15)

SIRIUSXM SATELLITE RIDES SPACEX ROCKET INTO ORBIT - A hefty new satellite to beam SiriusXM radio programming across North America rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Sunday from Cape Canaveral on course to replace an aging broadcast station launched more than 15 years ago. SiriusXM’s SXM 7 spacecraft, built by Maxar in Palo Alto, California, is the first of two new-generation digital broadcasting satellites set to join the company’s fleet in the coming months.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 14)

VSS UNITY ABORTS AFTER ENGINE START, SAFELY LANDS WITH CREW BACK AT SPACEPORT AMERICA - Virgin Galactic was to perform their first human spaceflight of their VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo vehicle from Spaceport America, just south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, today. The spaceship and crew took off at 10:24 EST (15:24 UTC) firmly attached to their WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft from the runway at Spaceport America. The combined aircraft climbed to altitude before Unity was released at 11:15 EST (16:15 UTC).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 12)

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