RICHARD BRANSON’S VIRGIN ORBIT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES SECOND ROCKET THIS YEAR FROM A 747 JET - Virgin Orbit, the satellite-launching spinoff of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, sent its second mission of the year to orbit on Wednesday as the company picks up momentum. “It was just magical,” Branson said on the company’s livestream, adding that he hopes the missions are “going to become almost routine, and [Virgin Orbit] will be able to more and more and more satellites, more and more and more rockets into space.”   More
(Source: CNBC - Jul 1)

THE FUTURE OF SATELLITES LIES IN THE CONSTELLATIONS - When Sputnik 1, the first satellite, was launched by the Russians in 1957, low Earth orbit was a lonely place. Today, just six decades later, the space around Earth looks far different. Thousands of satellites whiz around our planet at varying altitudes at speeds approaching 20,000 miles per hour. Of the more than 11,000 satellites that have ever been launched, there are roughly 3,000 currently active, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Satellite Database.   More
(Source: Discover Magazine - Jul 1)

SPACEX ROCKET HAULS 88 SMALL SATELLITES INTO POLAR ORBIT - SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket and 88 small satellites from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, sending the rideshare payloads on a southerly track into a polar orbit and notching the eighth successful flight of a reusable booster that debuted exactly one year ago.Running a day late after a helicopter ventured into restricted airspace just before launch time Tuesday,    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 1)

FALCON 9 LAUNCH SCRUB HIGHLIGHTS AIRSPACE INTEGRATION PROBLEMS - A SpaceX launch scrubbed in the final seconds of its countdown when an aircraft violated restricted airspace June 29 has aligned both the launch industry and the airline industry in their criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration. SpaceX was preparing to launch a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:56 p.m. Eastern. The Transporter-2 mission is carrying 88 satellites on SpaceX’s second dedicated smallsat rideshare missions, supporting customers ranging from NASA and the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency to several companies developing remote sensing and communications constellations.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 30)

RUSSIA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES SPACE STATION RESUPPLY SHIP - A Russian Progress supply ship launched Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, putting on a spectacular sky show as it commenced a two-day chase of the International Space Station with more than 5,000 pounds of fuel, water, spare parts, and experiments. The Progress MS-17 cargo freighter, mounted on top of a Soyuz-2.1a rocket, lifted off from Baikonur at 7:27:20 p.m. EDT (2327:20 GMT) Tuesday to kick off the trip to the space station.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 30)

CHINA’S SUPER HEAVY ROCKET TO CONSTRUCT SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER STATION - China plans to use a new super heavy-lift rocket currently under development to construct a massive space-based solar power station in geostationary orbit. Numerous launches of the upcoming Long March 9 rocket would be used to construct space-based solar power facilities 35,786 kilometers above the Earth, according to Long Lehao, chief designer of China’s Long March rocket series, speaking during a presentation Thursday in Hong Kong.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 29)

WHY IS RUSSIA LAUNCHING A NEW MODULE TO THE SPACE STATION IF IT’S PULLING OUT? - The Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, released photos on Monday showing the much-anticipated Nauka space station module enclosed in its payload fairing. This will be Russia's first significant addition to the International Space Station in more than a decade, and it will provide the Russians with their first module dedicated primarily to research. "Nauka" means science in Russian.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Jun 29)

SCIENTISTS USE SATELLITE DATA TO TRACK OCEAN MICROPLASTICS - Scientists and researchers from the University of Michigan have developed an innovative method to use satellite data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) to track the movement of tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean. Microplastics are formed when plastic trash in the ocean breaks down from the sun's rays and the motion of ocean waves. These small flecks of plastic are harmful to marine organisms and ecosystems.   More
(Source: Livemint - Jun 29)

A SATELLITE’S IMPENDING FIERY DEMISE SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO KEEP SPACE CLEAN - Space is vast. But the area around our planet is getting crowded. New technologies and the proliferation of competing rocket companies have made it cheaper to reach low Earth orbit. But more objects in space can also mean more spacecraft-damaging collisions. That could jeopardize satellites that connect rural and underserved areas with broadband, as well as those that take images that help farmers track their crops’ health.    More
(Source: Los Angeles Times - Jun 28)

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