ONEWEB PLANS APRIL LAUNCH BREAK TO TWEAK SATELLITE DESIGN - Deployment of OneWeb’s constellation of nearly 650 global broadband satellites is slated to begin in earnest Thursday when it launches its first 34 satellites built at the company’s Florida factory. But instead of launching at least 30 more satellites each month until achieving global coverage sometime in 2021, OneWeb now says it intends to pause its launch campaign for a month after one more launch planned for March. Additional short pauses are envisioned after launches planned for May and June expand the constellation to around 140 satellites.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 8)

CYGNUS LAUNCH TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SET FEB. 9 FROM NASA’S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY - Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 5 p.m. The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Loaded with approximately 8,000 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Tuesday, Feb. 11 at about 4:30 a.m.   More
(Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Feb 7)

THE RACE FOR SPACE-BASED BROADBAND: ONEWEB LAUNCHES 34 MORE INTERNET SATELLITES - A rocket blazed into space Thursday afternoon carrying 34 OneWeb satellites. It's the latest sign that 2020 will be a year in which new devices are deployed into Earth's orbit at an unprecedented pace as OneWeb and rival SpaceX race to make global broadband a reality. The OneWeb satellites launched from Kazakhstan at 4:42 pm ET Thursday (Friday morning local time) atop a Russian-made Soyuz rocket. OneWeb purchased the rocket from Arianespace, an aerospace company based in France.   More
(Source: CNN - Feb 7)

KOCH AND CREWMATES BACK ON EARTH - Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station — including the first all-female excursion — joined a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge to landing in frigid Kazakhstan early Thursday, setting a new record for the longest single flight by a female.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)

HERE COMES THE NEXT SATELLITE CONSTELLATION. ONEWEB LAUNCHES 34 SATELLITES ON THURSDAY - SpaceX has been garnering all the headlines when it comes to satellite constellations. Their Starlink system will eventually have thousands of tiny satellites working together to provide internet access, though only 242 of them have been deployed so far. But now another company is getting on the action: OneWeb. On Thursday February 6th, OneWeb will launch 34 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz launch vehicle, operated by Arianespace.   More
(Source: Universe Today - Feb 6)

CYGNUS DEPARTS SPACE STATION, DEPLOYS CUBESATS - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft departed the International Space Station Friday to close out a three-month stay, then raised its orbit to release multiple experimental nanosatellites for NASA, the U.S. military and research institutions, including one that was snap-assembled by astronauts using 3D-printed parts produced on the station.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 5)

MAXAR SAYS LAST YEAR’S UNNAMED GEO ORDER IS NEW INTELSAT SATELLITE - Maxar Technologies says the geostationary satellite order it disclosed in November without naming the customer is a high-throughput Intelsat spacecraft that will also carry a pollution sensor for NASA. Intelsat announced Feb. 3 that it had selected Maxar to build Intelsat-40e, a satellite that will provide high-throughput coverage of North America and Central America.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 5)

U.S. SPACE FORCE GETS UPGRADED SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS JAMMERS FOR ‘OFFENSIVE’ OPERATIONS - The U.S. military will deploy a new version of a ground-based communications jammer used to block adversaries’ satellite transmissions. The Counter Communications System was first introduced in 2004. An updated version, called CCS Block 10.2, has completed tests and will be ready for initial operations sometime in 2020, the Space and Missile Systems Center confirmed Feb. 3 in a statement to SpaceNews.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Feb 5)

ONEWEB JOINS THE SATELLITE INTERNET GOLD RUSH THIS WEEK - For the better part of a year, SpaceX has gotten the lion's share of attention when it comes to mega-constellations and satellite Internet. Between May and January, the company launched 240 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, with more launches coming, and has talked of offering preliminary commercial service later this year.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Feb 4)

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