PROTON ROCKET ROLLED OUT FOR LAUNCH WITH TWO RUSSIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES - Two satellites designed to beam radio and television broadcasts, Internet connectivity and other communications services across Russia have arrived at a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for liftoff Wednesday on the first flight of a Russian Proton rocket this year. The Proton rocket rolled out to pad 39 at the Site 200 launch complex at Baikonur on Sunday, riding a railcar from a fueling station across the Kazakh steppe to the launch facility. Once it arrived at the pad, the rocket was raised vertical and a mobile tower moved into position around the launcher for final pre-flight checks.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 28)

CHINA LAUNCHES 3 SATELLITES INTO ORBIT, INCLUDING A 'LOBSTER-EYE' TO HUNT DARK MATTER - China launched a trio of satellites into orbit Saturday (July 25) on separate missions to study the Earth, hunt dark matter with an X-ray "lobster-eye" and collect commercial data. A Long March 4B rocket successfully launched the Ziyuan III 03 Earth-observation satellite and two other payloads from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi. Liftoff occurred at 11:14 a.m. Beijing Time.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 28)

HYPERGIANT IS BUILDING A REPROGRAMMABLE SATELLITE CONSTELLATION WITH THE AIR FORCE - Hypergiant Industries is working on building a new 36 satellite constellation with the U.S. Air Force —an upgrade-able system that the company hopes will be used as a low Earth orbit test range. The company first pitched the concept of a constellation of satellites that could update “functionality and mission profiles on the fly based on real-time emergent scenarios and information” in January.    More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Jul 28)

RUSSIA DENIES US, UK ACCUSATIONS OF ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPON TEST IN SPACE - Russia dismissed U.S. and British claims that it tested an anti-satellite weapon in space and declared Friday that the accusations served to justify Washington’s own plans to deploy weapons in orbit. U.S. and British officials claimed Thursday that the July 15 test of an anti-satellite weapon signaled a continuing Russian effort to develop technologies that could threaten space assets of the United States and its allies.   More
(Source: Fox 59 - Jul 27)

SPACEX CREW DRAGON ASTRONAUTS WILL SPLASHDOWN AT ONE OF THESE SEVEN SITES OFF FLORIDA’S COAST ON AUGUST 2 - United Launch Alliance and NASA are targeting Thursday, July 30, for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter launch. Mission objectives include searching for evidence of ancient life on Mars and demonstrating helicopter flight on another planet. Less than 24 hours later, SpaceX plans to launch its Starlink 9 mission. SpaceX routinely launches up to 60 internet satellites to build out its growing constellation for an upcoming global broadband service.   More
(Source: Space Explored - Jul 26)

CHINA LAUNCHES HIGH-RESOLUTION MAPPING SATELLITE - China launched a Long March 4B rocket Saturday with a high-resolution mapping satellite for the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources and two smaller spacecraft designed for astronomical observations and data relay services. The three-stage rocket took off from the Taiyuan space center, located in Shanxi province in northern China, at 0313 GMT Saturday (11:13 p.m. EDT Friday), according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 26)

MISSION EXTENSION VEHICLES VALIDATE NEW SATELLITE LIFELINE IN ORBIT - Until February 2020, when a satellite on orbit ran out of propellant, that was the end of its life. Most major communications and military satellites are designed with prolonged lifetimes and carry enough fuel for a 15 year mission. But the struggle for some satellite operators has been that at the end of that 15 year period, satellites running out of fuel are still working perfectly well in every other regard. Therefore, perfectly good satellites have to be decommissioned. But not anymore.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jul 25)

PROGRESS SUPPLY SHIP DOCKS WITH SPACE STATION AFTER LAST-MINUTE MISALIGNMENT - Completing a fast-track, three-hour pursuit of the International Space Station, a Russian Progress supply ship overcame a last-minute misalignment and autonomously linked up with with orbiting research complex Thursday with nearly three tons of fuel, food and supplies. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket took off from pad 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:26:21 a.m. EDT (1426:21 GMT; 7:26 p.m. Baikonur time) with the Progress MS-15 cargo ship.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 24)

RUSSIA JUST TESTED SATELLITE-DESTROYING TECH IN SPACE, US SPACE COMMAND CLAIMS - The Department of Defense believes that Russia may have tested out a new technology in space that could be used to destroy other satellites already in orbit. This particular test didn’t destroy anything, but military officials are worried it could be used to target US satellites in the future. On July 15th, a Russian satellite called Kosmos 2543 released an unknown object into orbit, according to US Space Command, which is responsible for tracking all the objects currently in orbit.   More
(Source: The Verge - Jul 24)

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