SPACEX, L3HARRIS WIN MISSILE-WARNING SATELLITE CONTRACTS FROM US MILITARY - The U.S. military has picked SpaceX and L3Harris Technologies to build up a new missile-warning satellite system in space. In separate contracts, SpaceX and L3Harris will each provide four infrared satellites devoted to missile tracking as part of the larger National Defense Space Architecture program. The contract, awarded by the Department of Defense's Space Development Agency (SDA), gives $193.5 million to L3Harris and $149 million to SpaceX. The satellites should be ready by the end of fiscal year 2022.    More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 9)

NASA TELEVISION COVERAGE SET FOR SPACE STATION CREW LAUNCH ABOARD SOYUZ - A trio of space travelers is poised to launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Oct. 14. NASA Television will provide comprehensive coverage of launch and docking. Kate Rubins of NASA and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are preparing to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 1:45 a.m. EDT...   More
(Source: NASA - Oct 9)

NRO REVEALS PLANS FOR PREVIOUSLY-UNDISCLOSED SPACEX LAUNCH THIS MONTH - The National Reconnaissance Office has confirmed it will launch a payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral later this month, a mission on SpaceX’s schedule that was not publicly disclosed until recently. A regulatory filing with the Federal Communications Commission recently revealed plans for a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral scheduled for Oct. 25. But details of the mission in the filing did not match any known launch on SpaceX’s schedule, raising speculation that the launch might carry a national security payload for the U.S. government.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 8)

SPACE DEBRIS A FREQUENT TOPIC AT SATELLITE INNOVATION 2020 - Tracking and avoiding the growing debris field in low Earth orbit was clearly on the minds of speakers on the first day of the Satellite Innovation 2020 conference. “Today, unfortunately, there is a lot of debris up there,” said Tony Gingiss, OneWeb Satellites CEO. “We have to be able to track it and avoid it. But fundamentally, we also have to change the landscape in terms of … the responsibilities of the parties operating up there to actually make sure that we’re not creating more debris.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 7)

SPACEX BREAKS CYCLE OF SCRUBS WITH SUCCESSFUL FALCON 9 LAUNCH - Sixty more SpaceX Starlink broadband satellites rocketed into orbit Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center, breaking a streak canceled launch attempts at the Florida spaceport in recent weeks and nudging the Starlink network closer to reaching a wider population. Nine Merlin 1D engines flashed to life and powered the Falcon 9 launcher off pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 7:29:34 a.m. EDT (1129:34 GMT) Tuesday, a few minutes after sunrise on Florida’s Space Coast.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 7)

SEARCH CONTINUES FOR SMALL AIR LEAK ON SPACE STATION - Crew members on the International Space Station over the weekend continued trying to pinpoint the location of a small air leak in the research outpost’s Russian Zvezda service module, one of the oldest sections of the orbiting laboratory. As of Monday, the station crew had not located the precise site of the leak, but officials believe they have traced it to a transfer compartment at the rear section of the Zvezda module, near an aft docking port where a Russian Progress resupply freighter is attached.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 6)

SPACEX READY AGAIN FOR STARLINK V1.0 LAUNCH 12 - After inclement weather led SpaceX to call off a launch attempt on Monday morning, the company is ready to try again on Tuesday at 7:29am EDT (11:29 UTC) for a liftoff of the Starlink v1.0 Launch 12 mission from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. This will be the fifth attempt to get the mission off the ground. The weather forecast shows a 70% chance of favorable weather at T-0 with the primary concern being the Cumulus Cloud Rule.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 6)

ARISS TO CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF HAM RADIO ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will soon celebrate 20 years of continuous ham radio operations on the International Space Station (ISS). NASA is commemorating the milestone with a newly produced infographic highlighting the educational contacts via amateur radio between astronaut crew members aboard the ISS and students. Over its 20 years, ARISS has supported nearly 1,400 scheduled ham radio contacts with schools, student groups, and other organizations.   More
(Source: ARRL - Oct 6)

CYGNUS SUPPLY SHIP REACHES SPACE STATION WITH TITANIUM TOILET - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday, delivering nearly four tons of supplies and experiments to the research lab and its crew, including a $23 million titanium toilet and a high-definition virtual reality camera planned for use on a future spacewalk. Capping an automated laser-guided rendezvous sequence, the Cygnus cargo freighter moved within 40 feet (12 meters) of the space station early Monday, close enough for the lab’s Canadian-built robotic arm to reach out and grapple it.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 6)

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