INTELLIGENCE AND DUAL-USE COMMERCIAL SATELLITES LAUNCH ON TRANSPORTER-13 - SpaceX’s Transporter-13 rideshare mission on March 15 carried dozens of small satellites into orbit, including several funded by U.S. military and intelligence agencies. This was SpaceX’s 13th dedicated smallsat rideshare that has become a regular pipeline to orbit for both commercial and government customers. Among the 74 payloads was a technology demonstrator from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency responsible for designing, building, and operating U.S. spy satellites. The payload consists of two cubesats designed and operated by NRO’s Advanced Systems & Technology Directorate for an unspecified research mission. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 16)
SPACEX'S CREW-10 MISSION ARRIVES AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO RELIEVE STARLINER ASTRONAUTS - SpaceX's Crew-10 astronaut mission has arrived at the International Space Station, ending a 28-hour orbital chase. Crew-10 launched on Friday evening (March 14) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sending four astronauts from three different nations toward the orbiting lab. Crew-10's Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance, caught up with the station early Sunday morning (March 16), docking with its Harmony module at 12:04 a.m. EDT (0404 GMT), while the two spacecraft were flying 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Atlantic Ocean. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES PRIVATE RADAR IMAGING SATELLITE TO ORBIT - Rocket Lab launched a private radar imaging satellite to orbit tonight (March 14). An Electron vehicle carrying a single satellite for the Japan-based Earth-imaging company iQPS lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 1 p.m. local New Zealand time on March 15). Today's mission, which Rocket Lab calls "The Lightning God Reigns," successfully sent the QPS-SAR-9 satellite to a circular orbit 357 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth, deploying the spacecraft there 55.5 minutes after liftoff as planned. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 15)
NASA, SPACEX LAUNCH CREW-10 TO BEGIN FLIGHT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Second time was the charm for NASA and SpaceX as they successfully launch the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station on Friday evening. Unlike the hydraulic issue that cropped up early in the count on Wednesday, the second launch attempt moved through the fueling process without issue. The Falcon 9 rocket roared off the pad at 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 UTC). The flight is needed to relieve the station’s current crew, including the two astronauts who originally launched on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 15)
NASA, SPACEX PREPARE FOR MARCH 14 CREW LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with plans to launch the agency’s Crew-10 mission at 7:03 p.m. EDT Friday, March 14, to the International Space Station. On Thursday, SpaceX ground teams completed inspections of the ground support hydraulics system used for the clamp arm supporting the Falcon 9 rocket and successfully flushed a suspected pocket of trapped air in the system. Launch coverage will begin at 3 p.m. on March 14 on NASA+. More (Source: NASA - Mar 14)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK BROADBAND SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Wednesday night (March 12). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday at 10:35 p.m. EDT (0235 GMT on March 13). More (Source: Space.com - Mar 14)
NASA’S PUNCH SATELLITES DEPLOYED - Deployment of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission’s four satellites has occurred. Following a 90-day commissioning period, the PUNCH mission is scheduled to conduct science for at least two years. NASA’s PUNCH will observe the Sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind, supporting NASA Science’s key goals by creating a broad awareness and understanding of how the Sun creates conditions that influence Earth and space, which is increasingly part of the human domain. More (Source: NASA - Mar 13)
HYDRAULICS ISSUE ON STRONGBACK CAUSES SCRUB OF CREW-10 LAUNCH - NASA and SpaceX were less than an hour away from the launch of a new four crew to the International Space Station on Wednesday evening when a hydraulics issue caused a mission scrub. The flight is needed to relieve the station’s current crew, including the two astronauts who originally launched on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. The international crew consists of two American astronauts, a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut. When the mission launches, the quartet will fly to the orbiting outpost onboard the Dragon Endurance spacecraft, which previously flew the Crew-3, Crew-5 and Crew-7 missions. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 13)
ASTRONAUTS LAUNCHING TO SPACE WILL FINALLY RELIEVE THE PAIR WHO FLEW ON BOEING'S TROUBLED CAPSULE - Four astronauts are gearing up to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday. Their arrival will, at long last, kick off the process of bringing NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore home to Earth. Williams and Wilmore have been the focus of public attention since they launched on the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June. Although the plan called for them to stay on the space station for roughly a week, they have now spent nine months in orbit. More (Source: NBC News - Mar 12)
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