ARIANESPACE LAUNCHES EUTELSAT, ISRO SATELLITES ON FIRST 2020 MISSION - European launch provider Arianespace completed its first launch of the year Jan. 16, sending two communications satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center at 4:05 p.m. Eastern with the 3,600-kilogram Eutelsat Konnect satellite and the 3,400-kilogram GSAT-30 satellite. Eutelsat Konnect separated from the rocket’s upper stage about 28 minutes later, followed by the Indian space agency ISRO’s GSAT-30 satellite after another 10 minutes.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 17)

KUAIZHOU 1A ROCKET LOFTS CHINESE BROADBAND TEST SATELLITE - A solid-fueled Kuaizhou 1A launcher carried a commercial broadband communications satellite into orbit Thursday for GalaxySpace, a Chinese company that says it plans to launch up to 144 spacecraft for a space-based 5G network in the next few years. The light-class Kuaizhou 1A rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan space base at 0302 GMT Thursday (10:02 p.m. EST Wednesday), according to a statement from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., the government-owned contractor that owns Expace, a commercial subsidiary responsible for Kuaizhou 1A launches.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 17)

SIERRA NEVADA EYES 2021 LAUNCH OF DREAM CHASER SPACE PLANE - 2021 could be a big year for Sierra Nevada Corp. The Colorado-based spaceflight company is on track for a 2021 launch debut of its robotic Dream Chaser space plane, even as the firm shoots for the moon under NASA's Artemis program, Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) representatives said. Dream Chaser is set to become the next addition to the fleet of uncrewed cargo vehicles that ferry supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 17)

ARGENTINE SMALLSATS HITCH RIDE WITH CHINESE PAYLOADS ON LONG MARCH ROCKET - Two Earth-imaging microsatellites built and owned by the Argentine company Satellogic launched on a Long March 2D rocket from China Wednesday, sharing a ride into orbit with two Chinese spacecraft. The ÑuSat 7 and 8 satellites — each about 45 kilograms (100 pounds) — lifted off on a two-stage, liquid-fueled Long March 2D rocket at 0253 GMT Wednesday (9:53 p.m. EST Tuesday) from the Taiyuan launch base in northern China’s Shanxi province.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 16)

EUTELSAT’S KONNECT SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH - Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite, which will provide broadband services for Europe and Africa, has entered its final phase ahead of its 16 January launch. The Konnect satellite, which was built by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat, is part of a European Space Agency (ESA) partnership project to help to deliver competitive satellites for the commercial telecommunications market.   More
(Source: Capacity Media - Jan 15)

WATCH ISS SPACEWALK JANUARY 15 - Two astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) on January 15, 2020 for the first of three spacewalks this month. NASA TV’s live coverage of the spacewalk will begin tomorrow at 10:30 UTC (5:30 a.m. ET). NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are scheduled to conduct tomorrow’s spacewalk, as well as the next one on Monday, January 20, to finish replacing nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries that store power generated by the station’s solar arrays.   More
(Source: EarthSky - Jan 15)

SPACEX’S BRISK STARLINK LAUNCH CADENCE TO CONTINUE NEXT WEEK - SpaceX plans to launch its next group of Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Monday, Jan. 20, from Cape Canaveral, two days after the company is scheduled to launch a modified Falcon 9 booster from a separate facility at the Florida spaceport to test the Crew Dragon spaceship’s emergency escape system. SpaceX’s ability to achieve back-to-back launch schedule hinges on several factors, including an expected test-firing in the coming days of the Falcon 9 booster slated to fly on the next Starlink launch.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)

UAE’S FALCON EYE 2 SATELLITE SWITCHED FROM VEGA TO SOYUZ - Arianespace will launch the United Arab Emirates’ Falcon Eye 2 reconnaissance satellite on a Soyuz in March instead of waiting for the company’s much smaller Vega rocket to return to flight, Arianespace and Airbus Defence and Space told SpaceNews. Vega has been grounded since a July failure that destroyed the UAE’s Falcon Eye 1 satellite, resulting in a record $415 million insurance claim. Prior to the failure, Vega was scheduled to launch again in November carrying Falcon Eye 2.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 14)

INDIA TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE TO COVER GULF, ASIAN COUNTRIES AND AUSTRALIA - With increasing demand to provide satellite bandwidth for television, telecommunication and broadcasting services, India's national space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built a new satellite, GSAT-30. GSAT-30, with a payload weight of 3,357 kilograms is to be launched by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the European Spaceport in French Guiana on Friday (17 January) at 0235 Hrs IST.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 14)

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