SOME GOOD NEWS FOR THE SATELLITE & SPACE SECTORS REVEALED BY NSR - As the Satellite & Space sectors face the same challenges as the rest of the economy, one market seems particularly robust in the face of COVID-19 – Government & Military Satellite Communications services. With ongoing procurement for next-gen MILSATCOM technologies from U.S. Space Force, the commercial opportunities continue. While the future remains uncertain, compared to other mobility-centric satellite end-user markets, Gov & Mil appears to remain insulated from larger world events.   More
(Source: SatNews Publishers - Apr 9)

YOU CAN WATCH 3 ASTRONAUTS LAUNCH TO THE SPACE STATION EARLY THURSDAY. HERE'S HOW. - Three people will launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) in the predawn hours Thursday (April 9), and you can watch their departure from Earth live. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner is scheduled to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Thursday at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT; 1:05 p.m. local time in Baikonur).    More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 9)

PANDEMIC PUSHES SPACEX GPS 3 LAUNCH TO LATE JUNE - The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has decided to reschedule the launch of the third GPS 3 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to minimize the potential of COVID-19 exposure to the launch crew and operators, a spokesperson said April 7. The launch was scheduled for late April and is now projected for June 30 at the earliest.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 8)

SWARM FINALLY GETS FULL REGULATORY APPROVAL TO LAUNCH ITS SATELLITES - Today, the space tech startup Swarm Technologies announced that it is fully licensed to launch its commercial offering. This has been a years-long process, during which time Swarm violated FCC rules and was forced to pay a $900,000 penalty. The company appears ready to move on. It says it will begin serving customers later this year. “Having received all regulatory approvals to operate commercially in the US, in several other countries, and over international waters, we are one step closer to providing affordable satellite connectivity to the world,” Swarm wrote in a blog post.    More
(Source: Engadget - Apr 8)

WITH SUCCESSFUL SPLASHDOWN, SPACEX RETIRES FIRST VERSION OF DRAGON SPACECRAFT - For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Tuesday and splashed down hours later in Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles. Beginning later this year, SpaceX will fly upgraded Dragon freighters that will dock automatically with the space station and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 8)

BOEING INTENDS TO REATTEMPT STARLINER TEST FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION - Boeing plans to launch a second unpiloted test flight of its CST-100 Starliner crew ferry ship after software glitches last December prevented a rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station and briefly threatened the spacecraft's survival, company officials said Monday. A review of the December flight pinpointed the causes of the problems and the steps required to correct them.   More
(Source: CBS News - Apr 7)

ROCKET FOR NEXT SPACE STATION CREW ARRIVES ON LAUNCH PAD IN KAZAKHSTAN - A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket rolled out to a launch pad Monday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ready for the first crewed flight to use the modernized Soyuz booster configuration. Liftoff with two Russian cosmonauts and a veteran NASA astronaut is scheduled Thursday on an expedition to the International Space Station. Preparations for crew and cargo launches to the space station are proceeding amid the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 7)

RUSSIA READY TO LAUNCH MULTI-SATELLITE ORBITAL GROUPS - ROSCOSMOS CHIEF - The launch of British OneWeb communications satellites on March 21 by the Soyuz 2.1b carrier rocket showed that Russia is ready for deploying multi-satellite orbital groups, Head of Roscosmos space corporation Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday. "By this launch we proved that our equipment is ready for a swift deployment of multi-satellite groups of complex orbital configuration," Rogozin wrote on his Twitter account.   More
(Source: TASS - Apr 6)

ASTRONAUTS TRAIN TO RIDE A DRAGON INTO SPACE - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, two veteran space shuttle fliers, are gearing up to fly a privately-developed SpaceX Dragon capsule into orbit this year. The two astronauts participated in several major training events in March, including long-duration simulations to rehearse procedures they will execute during launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, their docking with the International Space Station, and then departure from the orbiting lab for return to Earth.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 5)

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