TURKEY TO LAUNCH TüRKSAT 5A SATELLITE INTO SPACE ON NOV. 30 - Turkey will launch the Türksat 5A satellite into space on Nov. 30, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said Wednesday. Türksat 5A is a broadcast satellite that will operate in the Ku band at the 31 degrees east longitude slot in geostationary orbit, covering Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and large regions of Africa. It will provide television services and improve broadband data networks. It reportedly has a launch mass of 3,500 kilograms (7,716 pounds) and electrical power of 12 kilowatts. More (Source: Daily Sabah - Sep 17)
SATELLITES WATCH HURRICANE SALLY MAKE LANDFALL IN ALABAMA - Hurricane Sally made landfall in Alabama as a Category 2 storm early Wednesday morning (Sept. 16) as satellites monitored the storm from space. Sally landed near Gulf Shores, Alabama, at about 5:45 a.m. EDT (0945 GMT), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which caught sight of the landfall using the GOES-East satellite. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 17)
MILITARY EARLY WARNING SATELLITES TO BEGIN MIGRATION TO NEW GROUND SYSTEM - Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 16 it received a $51.2 million contract to begin integrating U.S. missile warning satellites with a new ground system that is being developed to command and control all military satellites in the future. Under the contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Lockheed Martin will start the process of migrating a Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous satellite... More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 17)
SPACE FORCE SET TO RECEIVE SIXTH ANTI-JAMMING SATELLITE BY END OF YEAR - The sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite completed its On-Orbit Test (OOT) period Aug. 27, clearing the way for it to be transferred to the U.S. Space Force by the end of 2020, primary contractor Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 15. More (Source: C4ISRNet - Sep 17)
CHINA LAUNCHES 9 SATELLITES INTO SPACE FROM OCEAN PLATFORM - China launched a Long March 11 rocket from an ocean platform in the Yellow Sea early Tuesday (Sept. 15), successfully sending nine satellites into orbit. The launch took place at 09:23 local time (01:23 GMT/9:23 p.m. Eastern Monday) from a 524-feet-long (159.6 meters) launch platform named De Bo 3. The mission is China's second ocean-based launch, following a first Long March 11 sea launch in June 2019. It is the first time however that China has used new seaport facilities at Haiyang in eastern China. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 16)
THE FIRST COMMERCIAL AIRLOCK IS HEADING TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION LATER THIS YEAR - Later this year, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will take off from central Florida, carrying a large metal cup destined to be attached to the outside of the International Space Station. The hardware is a first-of-its-kind commercial airlock, designed to get payloads and other materials from inside the pressurized space station out into the vacuum of space. More (Source: The Verge - Sep 16)
NOAA WEATHER SATELLITE TRANSITIONS TO NEW ROLE FOR U.S. MILITARY - A weather satellite built and launched for NOAA in 2006 to help track hurricanes approaching the United States has been repositioned to monitor weather conditions in the Middle East to support U.S. military operations in the region. The GOES-13 satellite, no longer needed for monitoring weather over the United States, was transferred from NOAA to the U.S. Air Force last year under an interagency agreement. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 15)
NASA-NOAA SATELLITE HELPS CONFIRM TEDDY NOW A RECORD-SETTING TROPICAL STORM - NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided an infrared image of Tropical Depression 20 that helped confirm it organized and strengthened into Tropical Storm Teddy. Teddy, which has broken a hurricane season record, is expected to become a major hurricane later in the week, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). More (Source: Phys.org - Sep 15)
10 EXCITING SPACE MISSIONS AND LAUNCHES LEFT TO WATCH IN 2020 - It’s hard to believe that we are almost three-quarters of the way into 2020, though it also feels like March never ended. Life on Earth has been disastrous this year, but if it’s any consolation, humans have been making great progress up there in space, making 2020 one of the most fruitful years for the space industry in history. Already, Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has successfully launched 16 missions, including its first ever crewed flight to the International Space Station as well as 10 Starlink missions. More (Source: Observer - Sep 15)
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