KEPLER DECIDES TO BUILD ITS 140-SATELLITE CUBESAT CONSTELLATION IN-HOUSE - Kepler Communications has decided to manufacture its cubesat satellite constellation in-house. The company said Jan. 28 it will build its constellation of 140 cubesats in a 5,000-square-foot facility it commissioned late last year at its Toronto headquarters. Kepler CEO Mina Mitry said the company made that decision after an “exhaustive analysis” of the supply chain for smallsats, concluding that the industry has “a significant challenge ahead in maturing the supply chain” for smallsat components.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 30)

NASA SCIENTIST GETS NEW EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE NAMED AFTER HIM, A RARE HONOR - An Earth-observation satellite scheduled to launch this fall was just named after the recently retired Freilich, who headed NASA's Earth Science division from 2006 to 2019. The Sentinel-6A/Jason CS satellite — a collaboration involving the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — will now be known as Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich, NASA officials announced today (Jan. 28).   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 30)

THE ODDS OF A NASA, US MILITARY SATELLITE CRASH ABOVE PITTSBURGH HAVE GONE UP. (THEY'RE STILL LOW.) - The odds of a space-junk crash this evening (Jan. 29) aren't as slim as we had thought, it turns out. Two dead satellites — the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and the Gravity Gradient Stabilization Experiment (GGSE-4) — will zoom past each other today in the skies above Pittsburgh, analyses by California-based company LeoLabs indicate.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 29)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 60 NEW STARLINK SATELLITES, STICKS ROCKET LANDING AT SEA - SpaceX successfully launched its fourth batch of Starlink satellites into orbit and nailed a rocket landing today (Jan. 29) following days of weather delays for the mission. A sooty Falcon 9 rocket — which made its third flight with this launch — roared to life at 9:06 a.m. EST (1406 GMT), lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Florida. The rocket carried 60 more Starlink satellites for SpaceX's growing constellation, the second such launch by the company this month. The satellites all successfully deployed about an hour after liftoff.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 29)

HUSKYSAT-1 WITH VHF/UHF LINEAR TRANSPONDER SET TO DEPLOY SOON - The University of Washington’s HuskySat-1 3U CubeSat, launched November 2, 2019, is set to deploy on January 31 after the vehicle that carried it to the International Space Station undocks. HuskySat-1 has remained stowed aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply vehicle. Within 24 hours after Cygnus’ departure from the ISS, HuskySat-1 and SwampSat 2 will be deployed into orbit. After deployment, HuskySat-1’s 1,200 bps BPSK beacon on 435.800 MHz should be active and decodable with the latest release of AMSAT’s FoxTelem software.    More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 29)

IRAN, IMAGERY SUGGEST PREPARATION FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH DESPITE US CRITICISM, PAST FAILURES - Iran is apparently trying to launch a satellite into space despite a string of failures last year and U.S. concerns that the program is acting as a front for ballistic missile development. Images taken from space Sunday appear to show an increase in activity at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province. The photos, which were annotated by experts at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, show an apparent influx of cars and work activity at a launchpad, suggesting Iran might be repairing the damaged site.   More
(Source: Fox News - Jan 29)

NASA SELECTS AXIOM SPACE TO BUILD COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION SEGMENT - NASA has announced that they have selected Axiom Space, an American company headquartered in Houston, Texas, to design, build and launch three large pressurized modules and a large Earth observation window to the International Space Station (ISS). This partnership between NASA and Axiom is issued under Appendix I of NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships 2 (NextSTEP-2) public-private partnership program which the agency hopes will help stimulate commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 29)

TWO OLD SATELLITES COULD COLLIDE OVER US, SPACE DEBRIS TRACKER WARNS - Two satellites could potentially collide just above Pittsburgh on Wednesday, according to space debris tracker LeoLabs. IRAS (13777), a decommissioned space telescope launched in 1983, and GGSE-4 (2828), an experimental US payload launched in 1967, will pass incredibly close to each other at a relative velocity of 14.7 km/s, LeoLabs said in a tweet Monday.   More
(Source: CNET - Jan 28)

SPACEX POSTPONES LAUNCH OF STARLINK SATELLITE FLEET DUE TO BAD WEATHER - The California-based spaceflight company was scheduled to launch 60 of its internet-beaming satellites at 9:49 a.m. EST (1449 GMT) today from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. However, high winds at the launch site prompted the delay. SpaceX is now targeting no earlier than Wednesday (Jan. 29) at 9:06 a.m. EST (1406 GMT) for this Starlink launch "due to poor weather in the recovery area," the company tweeted Monday night.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 28)

Previous Next