JOINT NASA-ESA SATELLITE WHICH WILL MONITOR SEA LEVELS TO LAUNCH SATURDAY - The U.S. space agency, NASA, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), is set to launch a satellite Saturday designed to monitor rising sea levels, the latest in a series of orbiting spacecraft monitoring the status of the world’s oceans. NASA says the satellite, called the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California early Saturday.    More
(Source: Voice of Ameriuca - Nov 21)

SPACEX LINING UP 2 LAUNCHES FROM CA AND FL ON SAME DAY - A week after it sent four astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time, SpaceX is shooting for a bicoastal doubleheader: Launching a NASA Earth observation satellite Saturday morning from California and another batch of Starlink satellites from Florida that night, according to News 6 partner Florida Today. SpaceX is slated to launch NASA’s Sentinel 6-Michael Freilich oceanography satellite from Vandenberg Air Force base at 9:17 a.m. PST. The satellite is named in honor of the late director of NASA’s Earth science division.   More
(Source: WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando - Nov 21)

BOEING SUBSIDIARY READY TO LAUNCH SATELLITE DEORBITING EXPERIMENT - Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary, built two small satellites awaiting launch Thursday night on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on a mission to test the effectiveness of a drag-inducing device that could help remove spacecraft from orbit. The two small satellites are part of the DragRacer mission, which is set to launch with a cluster of payloads on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle during a window opening at 8:46 p.m. EST Thursday (0146 GMT) and closing at 11:34 p.m. EST (0434 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 20)

NASA, ESA ARE PREPARING TO LAUNCH THE LARGEST EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE EVER - The world's largest Earth-observing satellite is getting ready for liftoff. On November 21, the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA will launch the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft into Earth's orbit where it will keep a watchful eye on a dangerous side effect of climate change — rising sea levels. Viewing the Earth from space, it has an unparalleled view of this deadly trend on a global scale — and could help us here on Earth tackle it.   More
(Source: Inverse - Nov 19)

JAPAN’S ASTROSCALE TO LAUNCH SATELLITE FOR SPACE DEBRIS REMOVAL IN MARCH - Japanese startup Astroscale is scheduled to launch a satellite into orbit next March on a test mission to remove space debris, according to the company’s officials. The satellite will be carried into space by a Russian Soyuz rocket lifting off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.   More
(Source: SatelliteProME.com - Nov 19)

SPACEWALKERS PREP FOR ARRIVAL OF NEW RUSSIAN MODULE - Two Russian cosmonauts used the International Space Station’s Poisk docking compartment as an airlock for the first time Wednesday in a six-hour 48-minute spacewalk to begin preparing the nearly identical Pirs module for removal next year. A new laboratory module will be parked in its place later. Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov began the year’s eighth spacewalk at 10:12 a.m. EST. The excursion, the first for both cosmonauts, came just two days after arrival of four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon commercial ferry ship.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 19)

ARIANESPACE TRACES CAUSE OF VEGA LAUNCH FAILURE TO ‘HUMAN ERROR’ - Inverted cables on the Vega rocket’s upper stage control system apparently caused the launcher to tumble minutes after liftoff Monday night, a failure that resulted in the loss of a Spanish Earth observation satellite and a French research probe, Arianespace officials said Tuesday. Officials from Arianespace — the French company that manages Vega rocket launches — said Tuesday engineers reviewed telemetry data and documentation overnight, and found the most likely cause of the launch failure was a case of human error.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 18)

VEGA ANOMALY DURING LAUNCH OF EUROPEAN EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES - Arianespace suffered another issue with its Vega rocket during the launch two Earth observation satellites named SEOSAT-Ingenio and TARANIS for Spain and France, respectively. Liftoff from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana, was on time at 01:52:20 UTC on Tuesday, 17 November — which is 20:52:20 EST on Monday, 16 November). Vega was aiming place the two satellites into sun-synchronous orbits at slightly different orbital inclinations and altitudes. The status of the mission remains unknown.    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 17)

SPACEX CREW DRAGON CAPSULE DOCKS AT SPACE STATION WITH ITS 1ST CREW OF 4 - SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule has successfully delivered a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time. After a 27-hour orbital chase, the Crew-1 mission arrived at the space station Monday night (Nov. 16) with four Expedition 64 crewmembers — NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. Also on board was a small "Baby Yoda" plush, which serves as a "zero-g indicator" during the ride.    More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 17)

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