SPACEX MAY WANT TO LAUNCH 42,000 INTERNET SATELLITES — ABOUT 5 TIMES MORE SPACECRAFT THAN HUMANITY HAS EVER FLOWN - If SpaceX gets the go-ahead, the company's planned fleet of Starlink internet satellites could soon outnumber all the spacecraft humanity has ever launched by nearly five-to-one. That's according to Caleb Henry at Space News, who on Tuesday reported that SpaceX, founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, now seeks permission from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to fly an additional 30,000 Starlink satellites into space. Those tens of thousands would be additional to the nearly 12,000 spacecraft that SpaceX asked permission to launch from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).   More
(Source: Business Insider - Oct 19)

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO LIVE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION? - When it comes to business travel, astronauts take the cake. The six space scientists and engineers who live and work in the International Space Station are traveling at a speed of five miles per second -- orbiting Earth once every 92 minutes. As far as we know, they don't earn frequent flyer miles, but they do get to spend an average of six months living and working with a multinational crew in what's arguably the coolest office in the solar system.    More
(Source: CNN - Oct 19)

SWARM GETS GREEN LIGHT FROM FCC FOR ITS 150-SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - Swarm Technologies aims to connect smart devices around the world with a low-bandwidth but ever-present network provided by satellites — and it just got approval from the FCC to do so. Apparently the agency is no longer worried that Swarm’s sandwich-sized satellites are too small to be tracked. The company’s SpaceBEE satellites are tiny things that will provide a connection to devices that might otherwise be a pain to get online. Think soil monitors in the middle of corn fields, or buoys in the middle of the ocean.    More
(Source: TechCrunch - Oct 18)

DREAM CHASER STRUCTURE ARRIVES AT FACTORY FOR OUTFITTING - The composite structure of Sierra Nevada Corp.’s first space-rated Dream Chaser space plane has arrived at the company’s Colorado factory for integration with computers, a heat shield and mechanical systems before launch to the International Space Station in late 2021.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 18)

PREPARING FOR CHINA'S HOMEGROWN SPACE STATION - China is preparing for upcoming frequent space missions to construct China’s space station and the Long March-5B carrier rocket, set to launch capsules for the space station, is expected to make its maiden flight in 2020. Zhou Jianping, an academic of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has been appointed chief designer of China’s manned space program, and Gu Yidong, an academic of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been appointed chief space scientist of the program, according to the China Manned Space Agency.   More
(Source: Shine News - Oct 18)

ROCKET LAB DELIVERS ON DEDICATED LAUNCH FOR ASTRO DIGITAL - A technology demonstration microsatellite for Astro Digital rode a Rocket Lab Electron launcher into orbit Wednesday (U.S. time) from New Zealand, setting the stage for the debut of new systems on the next Electron flight as engineers move closer to retrieving and reusing the rocket’s first stage. The 55-foot-tall (17-meter) Electron rocket fired nine Rutherford engines with nearly 50,000 pounds of thrust at 9:22 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0122 GMT Thursday) to climb off its launch pad on Mahia Peninsula, the home of Rocket Lab’s privately-run spaceport on on New Zealand’s North Island.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 17)

FIRST ALL-FEMALE SPACEWALK ON TAP FRIDAY TO REPLACE FAILED BATTERY CONTROLLER - First all-female spacewalk on tap Friday to replace failed battery controller By William Harwood Updated on: October 15, 2019 / 7:24 PM / CBS News Two NASA astronauts will take part in the first all-female spacewalk Friday, a critical outing to restore lost power in the wake of an equipment failure that cropped up after new batteries were installed in the International Space Station's solar power system during two recent spacewalks. Astronauts Christina Koch, making her fourth spacewalk, or EVA, and Jessica Meir, making her first, will float outside the station to remove a malfunctioning 19-year-old battery charge-discharge unit, or BCDU, on the far left end of the station's power truss and install a 232-pound replacement.   More
(Source: CBS News - Oct 16)

SPACEX SUBMITS PAPERWORK FOR 30,000 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES - SpaceX has asked the International Telecommunication Union to arrange spectrum for 30,000 additional Starlink satellites. SpaceX, which is already planning the world’s largest low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation by far, filed paperwork in recent weeks for up to 30,000 additional Starlink satellites on top of the 12,000 already approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 16)

ROCKET LAB PREPS FOR COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCH THIS WEEK - Rocket Lab’s fifth flight of the year is set for liftoff as soon as Wednesday (U.S. time) carrying a small experimental satellite to orbit for Astro Digital, a Silicon Valley company aiming to demonstrate technologies in space after an earlier focus on Earth observation. The mission was delayed two days because of stormy weather at Rocket Lab’s launch site, located on Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 16)

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