NEW COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCHED IN NORTH CHINA - A new commercial satellite was successfully launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province Friday. The "BDSAGR-1" satellite has entered its scheduled orbit and is expected to provide accurate remote sensing data on crops in the river basins in north China and help modernize and digitalize China's agricultural industry.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 22)

BOEING STARLINER FAILS KEY NASA MISSION AS AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS - Boeing’s spacecraft Starliner, developed to fly astronauts, failed to achieve the goal of its critical flight test for NASA, which launched to space on Friday. Starliner was supposed to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), deliver cargo, and return safely – to demonstrate its capabilities and safety. But the spacecraft will not dock with the space station after its autonomous flight control system misfired shortly after the launch, putting Starliner in the wrong orbit.   More
(Source: CNBC - Dec 20)

WATCH BOEING LAUNCH ITS NEW PASSENGER SPACECRAFT ON ITS FIRST FLIGHT TO THE SPACE STATION - Tomorrow morning, December 20th, Boeing is poised to launch its brand-new passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, from Florida, sending it to the International Space Station on top of an Atlas V rocket. The capsule won’t have any people inside, but it’ll be the first flight of the vehicle, meant to prove that future passengers will be safe when they do board the Starliner for the first time next year.   More
(Source: The Verge - Dec 20)

CHINA TO LAUNCH CAMSAT CAS-6 SATELLITE ON DECEMBER 20 - The CAMSAT CAS-6 amateur radio payload is set for launch on Friday, December 20, at 0321 UTC from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, piggybacked on a TIANQIN-1 technology test satellite, using a CZ-4B launch vehicle. The primary launch payload is the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite CBERS-4A. The microsatellite, to be known as CAS-6/TIANQIN-1, will be placed into a sun-synchronous orbit at an apogee of 390 miles.   More
(Source: ARRL - Dec 20)

NEW NASA-FUNDED CUBESAT POISED TO TAKE EARTH'S TEMPERATURE FROM SPACE - All of a sudden, a tiny NASA-funded satellite, one of many passengers aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, shot into the sky on a mission to prove its new technology could change the way we measure Earth, and eventually, the Moon. The Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space instrument on a CubeSat, also known as CIRiS, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to the International Space Station on Dec. 5.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Dec 19)

SPACEX’S SATELLITE LAUNCH ON MONDAY ALMOST WENT PERFECTLY… ALMOST - SpaceX has had an incredibly busy year. The company has been sticking to a schedule of satellite launches for a variety of clients, while also continuing to develop its Starship rocket-of-the-future, and running resupply missions to the International Space Station for NASA. With all that in mind, SpaceX’s latest launch, which took place on Monday night, was like icing on an already delicious cake.    More
(Source: BGR - Dec 19)

CHEOPS SATELLITE LIFTS OFF TO STUDY PLANETS BEYOND SOLAR SYSTEM - Europe’s Cheops planet-hunting satellite has left Earth a day after its lift-off was delayed by a technical rocket glitch during the final countdown. A 30cm telescope aboard has been designed to measure the density, composition and size of numerous exoplanets, which orbit stars beyond our solar system. According to the European Space Agency (Esa), Cheops will observe bright stars that are already known to be orbited by planets.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Dec 19)

ARIANESPACE LAUNCHES ESA’S CHEOPS SATELLITE TO STUDY EXOPLANETS - A Soyuz rocket successfully launched an Italian Earth observation satellite Dec. 18, with the European CHEOPS mission to analyze exoplanets and three small auxiliary payloads also along for the ride. The four-stage Russian Soyuz Guiana Space Center in French Guiana lifted off at 03:54 Eastern Wednesday, marking the 23rd Soyuz mission for Arianespace from the Guiana Space Center. A previous attempt one day earlier was scrubbed due to a launcher software issue.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 18)

CAPELLA SPACE TO LAUNCH SEVEN RADAR SATELLITES IN 2020 AS IT PREPARES FOR COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS - Space-based radar imagery provider Capella Space will launch seven satellites and start commercial operations in 2020, the company announced Dec. 16. The San Francisco-based startup deployed one small synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite in December 2018 to test the service. The next seven it plans to launch in 2020 are a new design, Payam Banazadeh, CEO and founder of Capella Space, told SpaceNews.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 17)

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