ARECIBO RADIO TELESCOPE, DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR, SEEN FROM SPACE - Satellites spotted gashes in the damaged Arecibo Observatory, which is set to be decommissioned by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The 57-year-old radio telescope has sustained two cable failures which has made its massive dish too unstable to safely repair, according to the NSF. The cable failures have also damaged the massive dish, which spans a whopping 1,000 feet (305 meters) across, gouging holes in its delicate metal panels.   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 25)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 60 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES ON 100TH FALCON 9 FLIGHT - The 100th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket delivered 60 satellites to orbit for SpaceX’s Starlink network Tuesday night, adding another building block to a planned fleet of thousands of solar-powered space-based relay stations to beam broadband connectivity around the world. The successful mission late Tuesday also set a new record for SpaceX’s rocket reuse program — one that could be broken again within months if SpaceX maintains its feverish launch cadence.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 25)

SPACE STATION 20TH: THANKSGIVING CELEBRATIONS IN SPACE - The Thanksgiving holiday typically brings families and friends together in a celebration of common gratitude for all the good things that have happened during the previous year. People celebrate the holiday in various ways, with parades, football marathons, and attending religious services, but food remains the over-arching theme.   More
(Source: NASA - Nov 24)

SWARM A STEP CLOSER TO IOT SATELLITE NET AFTER NZ LAUNCH - US nano-satellite company Swarm Technologies has launched its latest 24 satellites, using a launchpad on New Zealand’s Māhia peninsula operated by Rocket Lab. Swarm, based in California, now has 36 satellites in orbit, said the company after the launch. Rocket Lab had a number of other customers on its launch, including Valve, a gaming software company, providing another six satellites between them.   More
(Source: Capacity Media - Nov 24)

ONEWEB TO RESUME SATELLITE LAUNCHES AFTER BILLION-POUND TAKEOVER - British-based satellite broadband firm OneWeb says it plans to resume satellite launches after a successful £1 billion takeover by the UK government and Indian telco Bharti Airtel. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has invested £400 million in OneWeb which, despite most of its management and manufacturing being American, is headquartered in London and regulated by Ofcom.   More
(Source: TechRadar - Nov 24)

CHINA LAUNCHES CHANG’E-5 MOON SAMPLE RETURN MISSION - A Long March 5 rocket launched China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft Monday to kick off a 23-day mission to deliver the first lunar samples to Earth since the 1970s. The heavy-lift Long March 5 lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. The Chang’e-5 spacecraft was announced to have successfully entered its predetermined orbit around 4:45 p.m., following deployment of solar arrays. The 8.2-ton Chang’e-5 spacecraft is to begin an estimated 112-hour journey to the moon.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Nov 24)

WILL SPACEX’S STARLINK SATELLITES RUIN STARGAZING? - I walk outside my rural Saskatchewan house before dawn and look up, expecting to have my breath taken away by the sheer number of stars overhead. I’m a professional astronomer, but I still appreciate unaided-eye stargazing as much as an eager child. This is the first place I’ve lived that’s dark enough to easily see the Milky Way, and I’m stunned and awed every time I look up. This time though, I curse softly. There’s a bright satellite. And another following behind. And another. And another.   More
(Source: EarthSky - Nov 23)

SPACEX SCRUBS STARLINK SATELLITE LAUNCH ON RECORD 7TH FLIGHT OF A FALCON 9 ROCKET - SpaceX called off the launch of its next Starlink satellite fleet late Sunday (Nov. 22), delaying a potentially record-setting flight for the mission's Falcon 9 rocket. A Falcon 9 rocket was poised to make its seventh launch (a record for the reusable booster) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida when SpaceX scrubbed the mission. The liftoff was scheduled for 9:56 p.m. EST (0256 GMT) to deliver 60 Starlink internet satellites to orbit.   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 23)

ROCKET LAB HAS SUCCESSFULLY RECOVERED A BOOSTER FOR THE FIRST TIME - New Zealand company Rocket Lab has hit a key milestone with the successful launch and recovery of its flagship Electron rocket. The mission, the firm’s 16th so far, included a soft parachute landing of the first-stage booster to the ocean for the first time. The mission: Electron was launched around 1:46 a.m. local time this morning from the company’s launch site on the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island. The mission successfully deployed 30 satellites into low Earth orbit.    More
(Source: MIT Technology Review - Nov 22)

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