SPACEX DRAGON CARGO CAPSULE BOOSTS ISS HIGHER ABOVE EARTH IN KEY TEST - A Dragon just pushed the International Space Station a little farther away from Earth. SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully finished a test reboost of the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday (Sept. 3), according to NASA. The freighter fired two of its Draco engines for 5 minutes and 3 seconds during the maneuver, agency officials wrote in a Wednesday statement. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 6)
NASA, SPACEX COMPLETE DRAGON SPACE STATION REBOOST - On Wednesday, Sept. 3, SpaceX’s Dragon completed an initial burn to test the spacecraft’s new capability to help maintain the altitude of the International Space Station. Two Draco engines located in the trunk of Dragon, which contains an independent propellant system, were used to adjust the space station’s orbit through a maneuver lasting five minutes, three seconds. The initial test burn increased the station’s altitude by around one mile at perigee, or low point of station’s orbit, leaving the station in an orbit of 260.9 x 256.3 miles. More (Source: NASA - Sep 5)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES ON WEDNESDAY SUNRISE FALCON 9 FLIGHT - SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket soared from Florida’s Space Coast among a collection of cumulus clouds less than an hour after sunrise on Wednesday. The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-22, was the company’s 110th Falcon 9 launch of the year. SpaceX launched from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:56 a.m. EDT (1156 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 4)
ISRAEL LAUNCHES SATELLITE, SPARKS PANIC WITH CIVILIANS THINKING IT WAS AN ENEMY MISSILE - A satellite was recently launched from the Palmahim Airbase in central Israel, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, after Israelis reported sightings in the night sky. The satellite's launch was conducted in a joint operation by the Defense Ministry, the IDF, and Israel Aerospace Industries, using a “Shavit” satellite launcher from a test site in central Israel. More (Source: The Jerusalim Post - Sep 3)
SPACEX’S TUESDAY NIGHT STARLINK FEATURES RARE DEBUT OF A FALCON BOOSTER - SpaceX completed its first Falcon 9 launch of the month, which carried another batch of 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The Tuesday night launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base featured the flight of a new Falcon 9 rocket booster. The mission, dubbed Starlink 17-8, adde to the more than 1,900 of its satellites so far in 2025 with more than 1,600 supporting broadband internet and nearly 300 being direct-to-cell satellites. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 3)
NEW METOP SECOND GENERATION WEATHER SATELLITE RETURNS FIRST DATA - Less than three weeks since the first MetOp Second Generation weather satellite, MetOp-SG-A1, was launched, this remarkable new satellite has already started transmitting data from two of its cutting-edge instruments, offering a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come. More (Source: European Space Agency - Sep 3)
NEW FINDINGS REVEAL THE CAUSE OF POTENTIALLY DAMAGING ELECTRICAL DISCHARGES ON SATELLITES - For the first time, researchers have found that the number of electrical discharges on a spacecraft directly correlates to the number of electrons in the surrounding environment—information that could help scientists better understand how to protect equipment in space. Spacecraft environment discharges (SEDs) are transient electrical breakdowns that can damage sensitive onboard electronics and communication systems. More (Source: Phys.org - Sep 2)
SPACEX LAUNCHES BATCH OF STARLINK SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into orbit from Florida on Sunday morning in its latest mission. The 28 broadband internet satellites were launched into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:49 a.m. EDT. The launch was the 23rd flight for the first-stage booster, which previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, TD7, and 15 Starlink missions, according to a mission description on SpaceX’s website. More (Source: Fox News - Sep 1)
ASTROSCALE JAPAN ANNOUNCES “REFLEX-J” REFUELING SPACECRAFT TO ADVANCE SPACE SUSTAINABILITY - Astroscale Japan has officially named its upcoming satellite refueling demonstration spacecraft “REFLEX-J” – short for Refueling for Extension and Flexibility - Japan. The name reflects the mission’s purpose: enhancing the flexibility of satellites in orbit by extending their lifespan and unlocking new operational possibilities. More (Source: Astroscale - Sep 1)
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