NORTHROP GRUMMAN AIMS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY LAUNCH OF NASA CARGO ON CYGNUS SPACECRAFT - Northrop Grumman is now aiming for a Valentine's Day launch of its next Cygnus cargo ship filled with NASA supplies bound for the International Space Station. The resupply mission, which has been delayed since Sunday (Feb. 9), is now scheduled to launch an Antares rocket and uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft on Friday (Feb. 14) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Liftoff is set for 3:43 p.m. EST (2043 GMT).    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 14)

NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO DEVELOP JAM-RESISTANT PAYLOAD FOR U.S. MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES - Northrop Grumman was awarded a $253.5 million contract by the U.S. Space Force to develop a cyber-secure communications payload that could be deployed on a military or commercial satellite. The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced Feb. 12 that Northrop Grumman was the first vendor selected to build a prototype payload under the Protected Tactical Satellite Communications (PTS) program that the U.S. Air Force started in 2018.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 14)

WEEKEND PLANS? TRY SPACEX'S NEXT STARLINK LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - The window for SpaceX's next launch from Cape Canaveral, slated for Saturday, should embody wintertime Florida: nearly 70 degrees, a healthy breeze, and the possibility of offshore showers. And unlike many late-night or early morning missions, the 10:47 a.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 40 is ideal for Space Coast visitors and residents to catch a glimpse of the 230-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket. Air Force weather forecasters are anticipating 70% "go" conditions.   More
(Source: Florida Today - Feb 14)

ASTRONOMERS HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS - Picture the space around Earth filled with tens of thousands of communications satellites. That scenario is slowly coming into being, and it has astronomers concerned. Now, a group of astronomers has written a paper outlining detailed concerns, and how all of these satellites could have a severe, negative impact on ground-based astronomy. SpaceX and other companies are casting their keen capitalist eyes on the space around Earth. SpaceX and OneWeb are the only companies to launch any portion of their satellite constellations so far.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Feb 13)

NASA CONFIRMS CREW DRAGON ALMOST READY, MOSTLY PAPERWORK LEFT - NASA and SpaceX are closing in on the first launch of humans into orbit from US soil since 2011, when the space shuttle made its final flight. Although the space agency has not yet said so publicly, NASA is working toward a May 7 launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. Asked Monday about the early May launch date, the director of Johnson Space Center, Mark Geyer, said it is tentative and that no final decisions have been made.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Feb 12)

LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERS NEW GPS SATELLITE SCHEDULED FOR APRIL LAUNCH ABOARD FALCON 9 - The third satellite of the GPS 3 constellation arrived Feb. 5 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, where it will undergo final testing and checkout before its scheduled launch in April aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The GPS 3 satellite was flown from Lockheed Martin’s assembly line in Colorado aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 11)

SPACE STATION TO FORGE ULTRA-FAST CONNECTIONS - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station plan to install a high-speed radio link to enable almost real-time connections with Earth. The upgrade to the ESA Columbus laboratory will relay data from experiments on the Station back to Earth almost instantaneously. The fridge-sized device will fly to the Station aboard Northrop Grumman's 12th Cygnus supply ship on 9 February.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Feb 11)

IRAN SPACE PROGRAM FAILS TO LAUNCH SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at 7:15 p.m. local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province, some 230 kilometers (145 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran. A Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket couldn’t put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit, however, due to a low speed, Iranian state TV reported.   More
(Source: TIME - Feb 10)

CYGNUS LAUNCH TO ISS SCRUBBED AS NASA CONSIDERS SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR FUTURE CARGO MISSIONS - A technical issue scrubbed a scheduled Feb. 9 launch a Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station as NASA is considering changes to the schedule of future cargo missions and science activities on the station given uncertainties about the size of the station’s crew.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 10)

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