SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY TO START BUILDING ITS FIRST CONSTELLATION OF SURVEILLANCE SATELLITES - The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency is soliciting pitches for technologies that will be used to build a network of satellites in low Earth orbit that would help the military find targets on the ground and track enemy missiles in flight. By late 2022, the agency wants to have several dozen satellites in orbit “to show that we can operate a proliferated constellation and that the constellation can talk to weapon systems,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said Jan. 21 at a Pentagon news conference.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 23)

NORTHROP GRUMMAN NAMES CYGNUS SPACECRAFT FOR FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ASTRONAUT - The first African American to be selected as an astronaut is being remembered with the naming of a space station cargo capsule set to launch during Black History Month. The 13th Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft has been christened for Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., who in 1967 was chosen for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 23)

PENTAGON WANTS TO BUILD ONE SATELLITE PER WEEK - One satellite per week. That’s what the Pentagon wants industry to provide under its plans to orbit seven new constellations — each with a different function — by the end of 2020. The satellites would be smaller (“a few hundred kilograms”), cheaper (about $10 million each), and shorter-lived (about five years) than today’s typical military satellites, which can weigh tons and consume billions of dollars but which are expected to operate for decades.   More
(Source: Defense One - Jan 22)

LAUNCHERS GET READY FOR THE SMALL SATELLITE GOLD RUSH - Just five years ago, small satellite operators would say “yes” to any possibility to get into orbit at a reasonable price, says Stephen Eisele, vice president of Business Development at Virgin Orbit. But times are changing, and with the small satellite market growing exponentially, the operators are increasingly aware of their significance for the launch providers and expect more. Where cost used to be the single decisive factor, the requirements to get into orbit on time and into a specific orbit are becoming more important.    More
(Source: Via Satellite - Jan 22)

NRO, THE U.S. SPY SATELLITE AGENCY, PREPS FOR FIRST DEDICATED LAUNCH FROM FOREIGN SOIL - Rocket Lab’s first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering satellites, is scheduled to launch from New Zealand as soon as Jan. 30 (U.S. time), officials announced Monday. With rare exceptions, information about the NRO’s payloads is typically classified. The spy satellite agency and Rocket Lab released no details about the payload set to fly into orbit on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket later this month.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 22)

SPACEX GEARS UP FOR NEXT STARLINK SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATION LAUNCH WITH ROCKET TEST - SpaceX has fired up the rocket booster that will ferry the company's fourth batch of Starlink satellites into space. Just over 24 hours after SpaceX aced an in-flight abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, the company conducted a static-fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the company said on Twitter.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 22)

SPACE STATION PROTOTYPES SHIPPED TO LAUNCH CENTER - Two major prototypes in China's manned space station program have been transported to the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province for prelaunch preparations, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The agency said in a statement on Monday that the arrival of the prototypes of the Chinese space station's core module and the country's new-generation manned spacecraft at the launch center meant that the construction project of the space station will soon begin.   More
(Source: ecns - Jan 22)

IRAN SAYS IT IS PREPARING FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH - Iran said Sunday that two newly constructed satellites have passed pre-launch tests and will be transported to the nation's space center for eventual launch, without elaborating. Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi tweeted about the development, calling it an “important research step.”   More
(Source: San Francisco Chronicle - Jan 20)

SPACEX ACES FINAL MAJOR TEST BEFORE FIRST CREW MISSION - SpaceX performed a dramatic high-altitude test flight Sunday of the company’s Crew Dragon capsule over Florida’s Space Coast, testing the human-rated ship’s ability to escape a rocket failure and save its crew before two NASA astronauts strap in for a flight to the International Space Station as soon as this spring. The unusual test flight included an intentional failure of the Crew Dragon’s Falcon 9 rocket about a minute-and-a-half after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 20)

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