ASTRONOMERS HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS - Picture the space around Earth filled with tens of thousands of communications satellites. That scenario is slowly coming into being, and it has astronomers concerned. Now, a group of astronomers has written a paper outlining detailed concerns, and how all of these satellites could have a severe, negative impact on ground-based astronomy. SpaceX and other companies are casting their keen capitalist eyes on the space around Earth. SpaceX and OneWeb are the only companies to launch any portion of their satellite constellations so far.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Feb 13)

NASA CONFIRMS CREW DRAGON ALMOST READY, MOSTLY PAPERWORK LEFT - NASA and SpaceX are closing in on the first launch of humans into orbit from US soil since 2011, when the space shuttle made its final flight. Although the space agency has not yet said so publicly, NASA is working toward a May 7 launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. Asked Monday about the early May launch date, the director of Johnson Space Center, Mark Geyer, said it is tentative and that no final decisions have been made.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Feb 12)

LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERS NEW GPS SATELLITE SCHEDULED FOR APRIL LAUNCH ABOARD FALCON 9 - The third satellite of the GPS 3 constellation arrived Feb. 5 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, where it will undergo final testing and checkout before its scheduled launch in April aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The GPS 3 satellite was flown from Lockheed Martin’s assembly line in Colorado aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 11)

SPACE STATION TO FORGE ULTRA-FAST CONNECTIONS - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station plan to install a high-speed radio link to enable almost real-time connections with Earth. The upgrade to the ESA Columbus laboratory will relay data from experiments on the Station back to Earth almost instantaneously. The fridge-sized device will fly to the Station aboard Northrop Grumman's 12th Cygnus supply ship on 9 February.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Feb 11)

IRAN SPACE PROGRAM FAILS TO LAUNCH SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at 7:15 p.m. local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province, some 230 kilometers (145 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran. A Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket couldn’t put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit, however, due to a low speed, Iranian state TV reported.   More
(Source: TIME - Feb 10)

CYGNUS LAUNCH TO ISS SCRUBBED AS NASA CONSIDERS SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR FUTURE CARGO MISSIONS - A technical issue scrubbed a scheduled Feb. 9 launch a Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station as NASA is considering changes to the schedule of future cargo missions and science activities on the station given uncertainties about the size of the station’s crew.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 10)

JAPAN LAUNCHES OPTICAL SPY SATELLITE - Japan launched an optical reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center Sunday aboard an H-2A rocket after a 12-day delay caused by a nitrogen leak. Japanese crews returned the H-2A rocket to its vertical assembly building at Tanegashima for repairs following the aborted countdown Jan. 27. Officials from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, builder and prime contractor for the H-2A rocket, said the leak detected during the previous countdown was in the system providing conditioned air to the rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 9)

IRANIAN SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED ON SUNDAY - "The Zafar satellite will be placed in orbit today from Semnan at a speed of 7,400 kilometers," Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said. A government minister announced that Iran would be launching a new satellite on Sunday after the planned launch on Saturday was delayed for unknown reasons.   More
(Source: The Jerusalem Post - Feb 9)

SPACEX CONSIDERS STARLINK SPINOFF AS TEAMS READY FOR MID-FEBRUARY LAUNCH - SpaceX says it is considering spinning off its Starlink broadband Internet project into a separate company, while teams at Cape Canaveral ready to launch around 60 more of the flat-panel data relay nodes into Earth orbit as soon as Feb. 15. Bloomberg first reported this week that SpaceX is could create a new company to oversee the Starlink network and pursue a public stock offering, allowing investors to buy ownership shares in the Starlink project.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 8)

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