ULA TARGETING THURSDAY FOR U.S. SPACE FORCE SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - Even during a global pandemic U.S. national security launches must go on. On Thursday, United Launch Alliance plans to launch its first communications satellite for the now U.S. Space Force designed to help troops around the world. An Atlas V rocket will blast off Thursday at 2:57 p.m. with the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF, satellite for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The rocket is at Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station awaiting lift off. More (Source: WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando - Mar 25)
MILITARY OFFICIALS COMMITTED TO KEEPING CAPE CANAVERAL OPEN FOR LAUNCHES - The military-run Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral remains ready to support upcoming launches — including an Atlas 5 flight Thursday — amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday. The next launch scheduled from Cape Canaveral is set to take off Thursday, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carries a U.S. Space Force communications satellite into orbit. Preparations for that mission are on schedule, officials said Tuesday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 25)
CORONAVIRUS IMPACT: SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW WORLD CITIES BEFORE AND AFTER OUTBREAK - This is what it looks like when the world pauses because of the coronavirus pandemic. Before-and-after satellite images starkly show just how much things have changed across the planet as the coronavirus outbreak spread. Images provided by commercial satellite company Planet Labs reveal empty parking lots, beaches, bridges, waterways, and popular tourist and religious destinations in recent days. More (Source: CNBC - Mar 24)
BIGELOW AEROSPACE LAYS OFF ENTIRE WORKFORCE - Bigelow Aerospace, the company founded more than two decades ago to develop commercial space habitats, laid off all its employees March 23 in a move caused at least in part by the coronavirus pandemic. According to sources familiar with the company’s activities, Bigelow Aerospace’s 68 employees were informed that they were being laid off, effective immediately. An additional 20 employees were laid off the previous week. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 24)
CHINESE NEW-GENERATION SPACECRAFT MISSION PROCEEDING DESPITE CORONAVIRUS, LONG MARCH 7A FAILURE - The test launch of the Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket carrying a Chinese new-generation spacecraft is going ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak. The prototype new-generation crewed spacecraft payload is designed to be capable of deep space travel, including crewed lunar missions. Measures introduced to contain the COVID-19 outbreak have altered, but not halted, launch preparations. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 24)
ONEWEB INCREASES MEGA-CONSTELLATION TO 74 SATELLITES - A Soyuz rocket lifted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying 34 more spacecraft into orbit to continue the build-up of the firm's broadband internet constellation. The mission took place despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has limited much space activity elsewhere. It also comes amid rumours the firm may consider seeking bankruptcy protection. A report by Bloomberg on Thursday said OneWeb was examining different options it could use to stave off the difficulties of a cash crunch. More (Source: BBC News - Mar 23)
COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS DISRUPT ASTRONAUTS' PREPARATIONS FOR ISS - Traditions that spacefarers have observed for decades have fallen foul of efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic as astronauts and cosmonauts face more stringent quarantine measures before they blast into orbit. The next crew bound for the International Space Station, the ultimate destination for self-isolation, will break with ceremony next month and not lay a red carnation at the Kremlin wall where Yuri Gagarin’s ashes are interred. More (Source: The Guardian - Mar 23)
SOYUZ ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES 34 MORE ONEWEB SATELLITES - A Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage lifted off Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, delivering 34 more satellites to orbit for OneWeb’s space-based Internet network in the company’s second launch this year. The Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket fired its main engines and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1706:58 GMT (1:06:58 p.m. EDT; 10:06:58 p.m. Baikonur time) carrying the 34 Florida-built satellites into orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22)
ONEWEB PLANS SATURDAY SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN - OneWeb plans to launch 34 communications satellites from Kazakhstan at 1:06 p.m. EDT Saturday -- its third such launch of satellites made in Florida. The communications company based in London and Virginia has been mass-producing satellites near Kennedy Space Center since last year. The company previously launched 40 satellites from space centers in Kazakhstan and South America. More (Source: UPI.com - Mar 21)
Previous Next
