CONSTRUCTION OF CHINA'S SPACE STATION ABOUT TO START - The maiden flight of the Long March-5B rocket carrying a trial version of China's new-generation manned spaceship is expected to take place in April, indicating the imminent start of construction of China's space station. The rocket, the prototype core capsule of the space station and the experimental manned spaceship are undergoing tests at the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of south China's island province of Hainan.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Feb 21)

SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE AFTER ONE-MONTH DELAY - A Russian military communications satellite rode a Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage Thursday into an orbit stretching nearly 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) above Earth, successfully launching after a one-month delay to replace a suspect third stage on the Soyuz booster. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off with a Meridian M communications satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 0824:54 GMT (3:24:54 a.m. EST) Thursday, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 21)

LONG MARCH-2D CONDUCTS MAIDEN LAUNCH FROM XICHANG WITH FOUR SATELLITES - Taking precautions with the coronavirus outbreak in all orbital and space launch centers, China returned to its launch activities after the Chinese New Year festivities with a new launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This was the first use of a Long March-2D (Chang Zheng-2D) launch vehicle from Xichang. The mission orbited four satellites that will be used to carry out inter-satellite link networking and new ground observation technology tests in orbit. The launch took place from the LC3 Launch Complex at 21:07UTC.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Feb 20)

A SATELLITE MADE IN ST. LOUIS WILL BE LAUNCHED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WEDNESDAY - A six-pound satellite built right here in St. Louis will be launched from the International Space Station Wednesday. The Argus-2 satellite was built by students at Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering and sent to the International Space Station in November. The spacecraft will be launched into orbit at 10 a.m.    More
(Source: KSDK.com - Feb 20)

AZTECHSAT-1 SOON TO DEPLOY FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The launch of one very small spacecraft marks a big success for the first collaboration between NASA and the Mexican Space Agency on a spaceflight project. It's also important for the team of students in Mexico who designed and built the satellite. Called AzTechSat-1, it will demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications for applications in space and on Earth. Specifically, it will "talk to" a network of telecommunications satellites already orbiting the Earth and contribute new data about this transmission strategy to developers of small satellites called CubeSats.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Feb 20)

IMAGE: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TRANSITS THE MOON - Say cheese. Amateur astrophotographer Javier Manteca captured the International Space Station as flew in front of the moon on 5 February. While most eyes were on the change of command ceremony taking place inside the Space Station ahead of ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano's return to Earth, Javier set up his gear to track the Station from the small town of Campo Real in Madrid, Spain.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Feb 20)

ARIANE 5 DEPLOYS COMMUNICATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SATELLITES - A Japanese-owned communications satellite built in Colorado and a South Korean environmental monitoring observatory shared an Ariane 5 rocket ride into orbit Tuesday from the South American jungle. The heavyweight duo rocketed away from a launch pad in French Guiana at 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT; 7:18 p.m. French Guiana time) Tuesday after a smooth countdown, beginning Arianespace’s third mission of the year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 19)

2 RUSSIAN SATELLITES TAILING US SPY SATELLITE: WASHINGTON - Washington has accused two Russian satellites of tailing a US spy satellite in what it called "disturbing behavior", prompting a guarded response from Moscow on Tuesday. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that he had received a message from Washington regarding the satellites, adding that "Moscow will respond after studying it."   More
(Source: Voice of America - Feb 19)

COULD HACKERS TURN SATELLITES INTO WEAPONS? - Hackers could shut down satellites and potentially turn them into weapons, an expert warns. According to William Akoto, a scholar who studies cyber conflict, hackers taking control of the satellites orbiting Earth could have dire consequences. “On the mundane end of scale, hackers could simply shut satellites down, denying access to their services. Hackers could also jam or spoof the signals from satellites, creating havoc for critical infrastructure,” Akoto wrote for Space.com.    More
(Source: New York Post - Feb 19)

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