ROCKET LAB SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES SATELLITES FOR PLANET AND CANON - An experimental satellite for Canon Electronics and nine Earth-imaging CubeSats for Planet fired into orbit from New Zealand on Wednesday on top of a Rocket Lab Electron booster, taking the place of similar spacecraft destroyed in a Rocket Lab launch failure in July. Nine Rutherford main engines roared to life and sent the nearly 60-foot-tall (18-meter) Electron rocket into an overcast sky at 5:21:27 p.m. EDT (2121:27 GMT) Wednesday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 29)

NASA’S CREW-1 COMMANDER TO BE SWORN INTO U.S. SPACE FORCE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, a U.S. Air Force colonel and the commander of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, is transferring to the U.S. Space Force and is expected to be commissioned aboard the International Space Station. “If all goes well, we’re looking to swear him into the Space Force from the International Space Station,” said Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 29)

THIS NEW OCEAN-MAPPING SATELLITE WILL HELP US ALL UNDERSTAND THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE - Examining coastal sea rise, tracking underwater ocean waves and adding to long-term data about climate change will be the main scientific return of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite mission, officials said in a press conference. The satellite is expected to launch Nov. 10 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. For now, spacecraft personnel expect SpaceX will be able to resolve a rocket gas generator issue that stopped a GPS satellite launch for the U.S. Air Force aboard another Falcon 9 on Oct. 2, Tim Dunn, launch director of NASA's launch services program, said in a virtual press conference broadcast Oct. 16 on NASA Television.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 29)

SPACEX CREW LAUNCH SET FOR NOV. 14 - After a two-week delay to evaluate a concern with Falcon 9 rocket engines, NASA and SpaceX have set Nov. 14 as the target launch date for the first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, kicking off a half-year expedition in orbit for three U.S. astronauts and a veteran Japanese space flier. NASA announced the new target launch date late Monday. The Crew Dragon spaceship is set for liftoff from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:49 p.m. EST on Nov. 14 (0049 GMT on Nov. 15) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 28)

WHAT COMES AFTER THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION? - For the past two decades, the International Space Station has been humanity’s home away from home. It’s hosted hundreds of astronauts from 18 countries. It’s served as the platform for groundbreaking science experiments that have fundamentally changed our understanding of human biology, climate change, and the universe itself. It’s been a proving ground for futuristic technologies like organs on a chip and quantum communication terminals, and it's fostered the birth of a vibrant commercial space industry. The ISS is arguably the best thing we’ve ever done. But all good things must come to an end.   More
(Source: WIRED - Oct 28)

CHINA LAUNCHES THREE MILITARY SPY SATELLITES - Three mysterious payloads widely believed to be signals intelligence satellites for the Chinese military rocketed into orbit on top of a Long March 2C booster Monday from a launch base in southwestern China. The three Yaogan 30-type satellites lifted off aboard the Long March 2C rocket at 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT) Monday from the Xichang space center in the Sichuan province of southwestern China. Liftoff occurred at 11:19 p.m. Beijing time, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 27)

ABOUT 3% OF STARLINK SATELLITES HAVE FAILED SO FAR - SpaceX has drawn plenty of praise and criticism with the creation of Starlink, a constellation that will one day provide broadband internet access to the entire world. To date, the company has launched over 800 satellites and (as of this summer) is producing them at a rate of about 120 a month. There are even plans to have a constellation of 42,000 satellites in orbit before the decade is out.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Oct 27)

SPACEX JUST LAUNCHED ITS 100TH SUCCESSFUL FALCON ROCKET FLIGHT. YES, THERE'S A VIDEO. - SpaceX just launched its 100th successful mission, and the company put together an action-packed video to mark the milestone. SpaceX hit the century mark on Saturday (Oct. 24) with the liftoff of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 of the company's Starlink broadband satellites to orbit. That same day, SpaceX tweeted out a video documenting all 100 successful launches, starting with a September 2008 flight of a Falcon 1 booster.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 27)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES SOYUZ WITH NEXT-GENERATION NAVIGATION SATELLITE - Russia launched a next-generation navigation satellite to join its GLONASS constellation Sunday. Liftoff of the Uragan-K No.15L satellite, aboard a Soyuz 2-1b/Fregat rocket, took place at 23:08:42 Moscow Time (19:08:42 UTC) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the northwest of the country. Spacecraft separation is expected to occur a little over three and a half hours after launch.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 26)

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