SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES GLONASS-M NAVIGATION SATELLITE FOR RUSSIAN MILITARY - A Soyuz rocket launched a new navigation satellite into orbit for Russia's military forces on Monday (March 16) in a dazzling nighttime liftoff from a snowy launchpad. The Soyuz 2.1b rocket launched the Glonass-M navigation satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 9:28 p.m. Moscow time (2:28 p.m. EDT/1828 GMT). The Soyuz's Fregat upper stage then delivered the satellite to its final orbit. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 18)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH INTELSAT-40E SATELLITE - Intelsat has selected SpaceX to launch the Intelsat-40e geostationary communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2022. Intelsat-40e will be the second Intelsat satellite to launch on a SpaceX rocket, following the Intelsat-35e Falcon 9 mission in 2017. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 18)
THE VIRUS HAS GONE GLOBAL—SO WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LAUNCH INDUSTRY? - As the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep the country, it is beginning to affect the global launch industry. As with pretty much every other aspect of life in this age of uncertainty and COVID-19, conditions can change on a day-by-day, if not hourly, basis. But as of early afternoon on Monday, here's the state of play at major spaceports around the world. More (Source: Ars Technica - Mar 17)
THESE SPACE SURVEILLANCE SATELLITES JUST GOT AN UPGRADE - The 1st Space Operations Squadron recently completed a major overhaul of the ground system for the U.S. military’s Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, which uses satellites to collect space situational awareness data about other objects on orbit. “There have been a series of robust security upgrades,” said Capt. Bradley Frost, 1st SOPS satellite engineer. “There have been new hardware and bug fixes that have significantly increased the reliability of the system. To sum it up, it’s better, faster and more secure than ever before.” More (Source: C4ISRNet - Mar 16)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET ABORTS STARLINK SATELLITE CONSTELLATION LAUNCH AT LAST SECOND - SpaceX aborted the launch of 60 new Starlink satellites at the last second today (March 15) due to an engine power issue with the mission's Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket's onboard computer triggered an abort just before a scheduled 9:22 a.m. EDT (1322 GMT) liftoff after detecting an issue with one of its nine Merlin 1D engines. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 16)
WITH CORONAVIRUS SPREADING, NASA MAY TWEAK ASTRONAUT PRELAUNCH QUARANTINE PLANS - The procedure to ensure that astronauts don't bring an illness to the International Space Station is under evaluation as NASA enacts tactics to help slow the spread of the novel-coronavirus disease COVID-19. Governments and agencies around the world have been enacting measures meant to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus; those measures include social distancing and quarantines for people who think they may have been exposed to the virus. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 15)
SPACEX TO GROW SATELLITE NETWORK WITH UPCOMING LAUNCH - An upcoming launch will put SpaceX one step closer to offering global internet service The Hawthorne, California-based rocket company will blast another 60 satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral on March 15. The launch is part of an initiative by SpaceX, the firm founded by billionaire Elon Musk, to offer global internet service within two years and acts as one of the anchor programs for the region’s space economy. More (Source: Orlando Business Journal - Mar 14)
RUSSIAN CREW SWAP AND CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS WEIGH ON UPCOMING LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - With the next Soyuz mission preparing to launch to the International Space Station, the crew has passed its final exams. But, while NASA's space station manager has made assurances that an earlier swap of the two Russian cosmonauts on the crew should pose no issues, concerns surrounding coronavirus will likely alter the mission's standard preflight quarantine. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 14)
SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW IRAN HAS BUILT MASS GRAVES AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK - Satellite images of mass graves in the city of Qom suggest Iran’s coronavirus epidemic is even more serious than the authorities are admitting. The pictures, first published by the New York Times, show the excavation of a new section in a cemetery on the northern fringe of Iran’s holy city in late February, and two long trenches dug, of a total length of 100 yards, by the end of the month. More (Source: The Guardian - Mar 13)
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