A SATELLITE MADE IN ST. LOUIS WILL BE LAUNCHED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WEDNESDAY - A six-pound satellite built right here in St. Louis will be launched from the International Space Station Wednesday. The Argus-2 satellite was built by students at Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering and sent to the International Space Station in November. The spacecraft will be launched into orbit at 10 a.m. More (Source: KSDK.com - Feb 20)
AZTECHSAT-1 SOON TO DEPLOY FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The launch of one very small spacecraft marks a big success for the first collaboration between NASA and the Mexican Space Agency on a spaceflight project. It's also important for the team of students in Mexico who designed and built the satellite. Called AzTechSat-1, it will demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications for applications in space and on Earth. Specifically, it will "talk to" a network of telecommunications satellites already orbiting the Earth and contribute new data about this transmission strategy to developers of small satellites called CubeSats. More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 20)
IMAGE: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TRANSITS THE MOON - Say cheese. Amateur astrophotographer Javier Manteca captured the International Space Station as flew in front of the moon on 5 February. While most eyes were on the change of command ceremony taking place inside the Space Station ahead of ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano's return to Earth, Javier set up his gear to track the Station from the small town of Campo Real in Madrid, Spain. More (Source: Phys.org - Feb 20)
ARIANE 5 DEPLOYS COMMUNICATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SATELLITES - A Japanese-owned communications satellite built in Colorado and a South Korean environmental monitoring observatory shared an Ariane 5 rocket ride into orbit Tuesday from the South American jungle. The heavyweight duo rocketed away from a launch pad in French Guiana at 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT; 7:18 p.m. French Guiana time) Tuesday after a smooth countdown, beginning Arianespace’s third mission of the year. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 19)
2 RUSSIAN SATELLITES TAILING US SPY SATELLITE: WASHINGTON - Washington has accused two Russian satellites of tailing a US spy satellite in what it called "disturbing behavior", prompting a guarded response from Moscow on Tuesday. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that he had received a message from Washington regarding the satellites, adding that "Moscow will respond after studying it." More (Source: Voice of America - Feb 19)
COULD HACKERS TURN SATELLITES INTO WEAPONS? - Hackers could shut down satellites and potentially turn them into weapons, an expert warns. According to William Akoto, a scholar who studies cyber conflict, hackers taking control of the satellites orbiting Earth could have dire consequences. “On the mundane end of scale, hackers could simply shut satellites down, denying access to their services. Hackers could also jam or spoof the signals from satellites, creating havoc for critical infrastructure,” Akoto wrote for Space.com. More (Source: New York Post - Feb 19)
SPACEX WILL FLY SPACE TOURISTS ON CREW DRAGON FOR SPACE ADVENTURES - SpaceX just inked its first deal to launch space tourists into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk has signed an agreement with the U.S. space tourism company Space Adventures to launch up to four passengers on an orbital trip aboard a Crew Dragon space capsule. The mission would last up to five days and could launch as early as late 2021, Space Adventures representatives told Space.com. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 19)
CYGNUS FREIGHTER DELIVERS NEW BRITISH-MADE ANTENNA TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A commercial Cygnus cargo freighter arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday two-and-a-half days after launching from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, delivering a new British-made high-speed communications antenna and more than 7,000 pounds of other experiments and equipment. Astronaut Drew Morgan, working at a control station aboard the space station, used the research outposts’s Canadian-built robotic arm to capture the Cygnus spacecraft at 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT) Tuesday while the cargo freighter hovered less than 40 feet (12 meters) below the complex. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 19)
NEW SATELLITE MADE FROM CORK COULD HELP SMALLER SPACECRAFT RE-ENTER EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE INTACT BY DIRECTING HEAT TOWARD PARTS OF THE HULL DESIGNED TO BURN UP AND FLAKE AWAY - This week the European Space Agency will begin testing a new kind of spacecraft partially made from cork in the hopes of finding a safer way to re-enter the atmosphere. Called ‘QubeSat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurements on Ablation,’ the vessel is made up of a series of cubes stacked on top of each other and measures around a foot in height. More (Source: Daily Mail - Feb 18)
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