BOEING’S FIRST SPACE-READY STARLINER CREW CAPSULE HEADS TO ITS LAUNCH PAD THURSDAY - Boeing’s first Starliner crew capsule to fly in space is set to depart its factory Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a trip to a launch pad a few miles away, where it will be raised atop an Atlas 5 rocket for liftoff next month on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. The Starliner spacecraft is being readied for liftoff no earlier than Dec. 17 from Cape Canaveral on a week-long unpiloted demonstration flight to the International Space Station, a crucial precursor before the first crewed Starliner mission next year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 21)

HOW THE SEATTLE AREA BECAME A HOTSPOT FOR SATELLITE BUILDERS — AND WHAT COMES NEXT - Seattle may not be the best place to put a launch pad, but the region is turning into one of the most prolific satellite production centers in the United States. “How many of you know that Washington state is actually one of the world’s leading satellite manufacturers?” Roger Myers, a longtime aerospace executive who is currently president-elect of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, asked during a session of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s Economic Leadership Forum on Monday.   More
(Source: GeekWire - Nov 20)

ANTI-TRUMP SENTIMENT COULD LIMIT US INVESTMENT IN SPACE, APOLLO 15 ASTRONAUT SAYS - “Anti-President Trump” sentiment in the U.S. could become a barrier to American investment in space exploration, according to astronaut Al Worden. The U.S. president has openly shared his aspirations for NASA to reach Mars and return to the moon. But speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Dubai Air Show on Monday, Worden — who served as the command module pilot in NASA’s Apollo 15 mission to the moon — expressed doubts as to whether the president would be successful in his push for increased investments in the space agency.   More
(Source: CNBC - Nov 20)

SPACEX SET TO LAUNCH FALCON 9 ROCKET TO SPACE STATION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL DEC. 4 - SpaceX is targeting 12:51 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the launch of its Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft also will carry crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support the Expedition 61 crew for the 19th mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.   More
(Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Nov 20)

COMPOSITE IMAGE OF SPACEX STARLINK SATELLITE SWARM - Last week – on Monday, November 11, 2019 – a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 60 more Starlink satellites to Earth-orbit. According to Stephen Clark at SpaceFlightNow.com, the satellites traced paths across twilight skies around the world last week, and, even this morning (November 18) astrophotographers are still capturing them, as shown in this image from our friend Padraic Koen.    More
(Source: EarthSky - Nov 19)

NO WAY BACK SPACE DEBRIS SPACE POLLUTION POSES EXISTENTIAL THREAT - Since the start of space exploration, countless spacecraft have disintegrated in outer space, leaving a ring of space debris orbiting planet Earth. The international space community has slowly woken up to the fact that littering space is not a victimless crime. Space debris poses a threat to orbital stations. The International Space Station (ISS) moves in space at a speed of 8 km per second   More
(Source: RT - Nov 18)

CHINA TO BUILD SPACE STATION ACCOMMODATING 3 ASTRONAUTS - China is scheduled to build and operate a space station in 2022, which will accommodate three astronauts, and space would be reserved for enlargement. Zhou Jianping, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the chief designer of China's manned space program, said at the Forth China Summit Forum on Human Factors Engineering that the station, which will orbit 340 to 450 kilometers above Earth's surface, could be enlarged to 180 tons if necessary and will accommodate three to six astronauts, Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.   More
(Source: ecns - Nov 18)

CHINA LAUNCHES SECOND KUAIZHOU-1A ROCKET IN FOUR DAYS - In just a little more than a four day period, from the very same pad, with the very same launch team and launch truck, China has launched yet another Kuaizhou-1A rocket carrying satellites into orbit. This flight, fresh on the heels of yet another flight with the Jilin-1 Gaofen-2A satellite on November 13, lifted off from the mobile launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China today at 10:00 UTC. Chinese media has later declared the launch a success.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 18)

1ST UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SMALL SATELLITE NOW IN SPACE - University of Minnesota senior Jenna Burgett was on bleachers two miles from the NASA Virginia launching site on Nov. 2, watching a rocket launch into space that carried a small satellite she and other students helped create. “The sound hits you and from two miles away ... the bleachers were shaking. You can hear it resonating in your ears and in your chest,” said Burgett, manager of the University’s Small Satellite Project.   More
(Source: U.S. News & World Report - Nov 17)

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