INDIAN PSLV LAUNCHES RISAT-2BR1 MILITARY SATELLITE - ISRO launched the fiftieth PSLV mission Wednesday, with its workhorse rocket flying for the second time in barely a fortnight to deploy a radar imaging spy satellite for India’s military. The RISAT-2BR1 satellite was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 15:25 local time (09:55 UTC), with deployment into low Earth orbit expected sixteen and a half minutes later. RISAT-2BR1 is an all-weather radar reconnaissance satellite, able to image the Earth in both daylight and at night, regardless of any clouds obscuring the surface. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 12)
REFUELING SATELLITES IN SPACE WITH THE HELP OF A ROBOT - Many technologies that are essential for daily life—from communications to GPS navigation to weather forecasting—rely on the thousands of satellites that are orbiting Earth. When those satellites run out of gas and stop working, there's not much that can currently be done to fix them. "When a satellite runs out of fuel, and you don't have a way to refuel it, that satellite stops working," said John Wen, professor and head of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. More (Source: Phys.org - Dec 12)
ISRO BEGINS COUNTDOWN FOR 50TH PSLV LAUNCH, ROCKET TO CARRY SPY SATELLITE - The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) began the countdown for another satellite launch Tuesday evening. The countdown, which began 4.40 pm Tuesday, is for the launch of the RISAT-2BR1 Earth imaging satellite. The "spy satellite" will be carried onboard Isro's workhorse -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket. The PSLV rocket's launch is scheduled to take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 3.25 pm Wednesday. This will be the rocket's 50th mission. More (Source: India Today - Dec 11)
BOEING AWARDED $21.2 MILLION MODIFICATION TO MAINTAIN SURVEILLANCE SATELLITE - Boeing has been awarded a $21.2 million contract modification for sustainment and development for the Air Force's space based surveillance system , the Department of Defense announced Tuesday. The modification funds systems engineering, operations, operations support and contractor logistics support for the Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10. More (Source: UPI - Dec 11)
SATELLITE SWARMS PUSH UPDATE OF SPACE JUNK GUIDELINES - As SpaceX prepares to launch its next tranche of Starlink satellites in late December, the rise of satellite constellations in general prompted the federal government to update its space junk guidelines. Simply put, space junk can be dangerous. There are numerous instances of satellite pieces colliding with operational satellites, and every so often the International Space Station needs to dodge debris for the safety of its astronauts. More (Source: Forbes - Dec 11)
RUSSIAN SUPPLY SHIP DOCKS WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - An unmanned Russian ship carrying tons of supplies successfully docked Monday with the International Space Station. The Progress MS-13 cargo ship had lifted off on Friday atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russian space complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It successfully docked with the space outpost on Monday at 1035 GMT. More (Source: Phys.org - Dec 10)
MYRADAR LAUNCHES AIRCRAFT TRACKING SATELLITE - Acme AtronOmatic, the makers of the MyRadar Weather Radar app, have launched a non-commercial, experimental communications satellite aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket with launch provider Alba Orbital. The launch event, dubbed “Running out of Fingers,” lifted off on Dec. 6. The cubesat will monitor aircraft tracking signals from orbit and relay the data to the ground. More (Source: Via Satellite - Dec 10)
CHINA LAUNCHES TWO KUAIZHOU ROCKETS IN SIX HOURS - Two solid-fueled Kuaizhou 1A rockets fired into orbit from the same spaceport in northern China Saturday, demonstrating a further advance in China’s aim for a quick-response, on-call satellite launch capability. The back-to-back Kuaizhou 1A missions both lifted off from the Taiyuan space center in northern China’s Shanxi province, using separate road-mobile transporters as launch pads. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 9)
SPACEX DRAGON SUCCESSFULLY DOCKS WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - SpaceX made an early holiday delivery to the International Space Station on Sunday, dropping off super muscular “mighty mice,” pest-killing worms and a smart, empathetic robot. The station commander, Italy’s Luca Parmitano, used a large robot arm to grab onto the Dragon three days after its launch from Cape Canaveral. The two spacecraft soared 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the South Pacific at the time of capture. More (Source: CNBC - Dec 9)
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