CHINA’S FIRST LAUNCH OF 2021 ORBITS COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A Chinese Long March 3B rocket deployed the Tiantong 1-03 satellite to provide mobile communications services after a successful launch Tuesday, the first of more than 40 Chinese space missions set for liftoff in 2021. The 184-foot-tall (56-meter) Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang launch base at 11:25 a.m. EST (1625 GMT) Tuesday with the third satellite in the Tiantong 1 communications network, joining two others launched in 2016 and 2020...   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 22)

ANOTHER ONE LEAVES THE CRUST BEGINS BUSY YEAR FOR ROCKET LAB - Rocket Lab started its busiest year with the dedicated launch of a micro-satellite aboard their Electron rocket for OHB Group on Wednesday. Named “Another One Leaves The Crust,” the mission launch at 02:26 EST (06:26 UTC) on Wednesday, January 20 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1A on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. This was the 18th launch of the Electron rocket overall, the first of at least nine announced missions for this year, and the first mission for the company demonstrating a rapid contract to launch period.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 21)

SPACEX SETS NEW ROCKET REUSE RECORDS WITH SUCCESSFUL STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites Wednesday into a sunny sky over Florida’s Space Coast, adding more capacity and coverage to the company’s commercial broadband network while setting new records for the pace it is reusing Falcon 9 rocket boosters. The two-stage launcher fired its nine Merlin 1D main engines and climbed away from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 8:02 a.m. EST (1302 GMT) Wednesday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 21)

ROCKET LAB'S FIRST LAUNCH IN 2021: WATCH LIVE AS 'ANOTHER ONE LEAVES THE CRUST' - Rocket Lab, one of the spunkiest newcomers to the commercial space game, says it's ready for its first mission of 2021. You can watch the mission launch live, right here. The spaceflight startup, with facilities in the US and New Zealand, will launch one of its Electron rockets to orbit zTuesday night, Pacific time. The company had initially aimed to launch Friday night but opted to postpone after receiving some unusual sensor data from the rocket.   More
(Source: CNET - Jan 20)

SPACEX SET TO LAUNCH FIRST STARLINK MISSION OF 2021 - As the second SpaceX launch of the year, and the first of many Starlink missions scheduled to launch in 2021, the company is set to launch the Starlink v1.0 L16 mission — the 16th launch of operational satellites and 17th Starlink flight overall. Liftoff is currently scheduled for January 20th at 8:02 EST (13:02 UTC) from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center.    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 20)

NASA PICKS UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA TEAM TO BUILD SMALL SATELLITE WITH BIG MISSION - While others train their telescopes on stars and galaxies, astronomer Carlos Vargas cannot stop searching for the stuff in between. The University of Arizona researcher studies the invisible “oceans of gas” that surround galaxies and make up one of the universe’s largest and least understood reservoirs of matter.    More
(Source: Arizona Daily Star - Jan 20)

BOEING MAKING PROGRESS ON STARLINER SOFTWARE FOR TEST FLIGHT IN MARCH - Boeing said Monday it has re-qualified software for the company’s Starliner crew capsule after programming errors cut short the spacecraft’s first orbital test flight in 2019, and technicians at the Kennedy Space Center have connected the crew and service modules for the next unpiloted Starliner test flight to the International Space Station in March. NASA and Boeing officials are officially targeting March 29 for the second Starliner Orbital Flight Test, a repeat of the first test flight in 2019, when software problems prevented the capsule from docking with the space station.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 19)

SPACEX WILL LAUNCH ITS 1ST STARLINK SATELLITES OF 2021 ON MONDAY. HERE'S HOW TO WATCH. - SpaceX will launch its first batch of Starlink satellites in 2021 on Monday (Jan. 18) to expand the company's growing megaconstellation and you can watch the action live online. The Hawthorne, California-based company will loft 60 Starlink internet satellites on its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's historic Pad 39A here at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:45 a.m. EDT (1422 GMT).    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 18)

VIRGIN’S SATELLITE LAUNCHER REACHES ORBIT FOR FIRST TIME - An air-launched rocket built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached orbit Sunday for the first time, delivering 10 experimental CubeSats for NASA and positioning the company for the start of commercial operations. The success adds another company to the growing club of private space companies capable of launching satellites. Virgin Orbit is second in a new wave of commercial small launch companies — after Rocket Lab — to accomplish the task of putting payloads in orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 18)

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