EUTELSAT’S KONNECT SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH - Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite, which will provide broadband services for Europe and Africa, has entered its final phase ahead of its 16 January launch. The Konnect satellite, which was built by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat, is part of a European Space Agency (ESA) partnership project to help to deliver competitive satellites for the commercial telecommunications market.   More
(Source: Capacity Media - Jan 15)

WATCH ISS SPACEWALK JANUARY 15 - Two astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) on January 15, 2020 for the first of three spacewalks this month. NASA TV’s live coverage of the spacewalk will begin tomorrow at 10:30 UTC (5:30 a.m. ET). NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are scheduled to conduct tomorrow’s spacewalk, as well as the next one on Monday, January 20, to finish replacing nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries that store power generated by the station’s solar arrays.   More
(Source: EarthSky - Jan 15)

SPACEX’S BRISK STARLINK LAUNCH CADENCE TO CONTINUE NEXT WEEK - SpaceX plans to launch its next group of Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Monday, Jan. 20, from Cape Canaveral, two days after the company is scheduled to launch a modified Falcon 9 booster from a separate facility at the Florida spaceport to test the Crew Dragon spaceship’s emergency escape system. SpaceX’s ability to achieve back-to-back launch schedule hinges on several factors, including an expected test-firing in the coming days of the Falcon 9 booster slated to fly on the next Starlink launch.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)

UAE’S FALCON EYE 2 SATELLITE SWITCHED FROM VEGA TO SOYUZ - Arianespace will launch the United Arab Emirates’ Falcon Eye 2 reconnaissance satellite on a Soyuz in March instead of waiting for the company’s much smaller Vega rocket to return to flight, Arianespace and Airbus Defence and Space told SpaceNews. Vega has been grounded since a July failure that destroyed the UAE’s Falcon Eye 1 satellite, resulting in a record $415 million insurance claim. Prior to the failure, Vega was scheduled to launch again in November carrying Falcon Eye 2.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 14)

INDIA TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE TO COVER GULF, ASIAN COUNTRIES AND AUSTRALIA - With increasing demand to provide satellite bandwidth for television, telecommunication and broadcasting services, India's national space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built a new satellite, GSAT-30. GSAT-30, with a payload weight of 3,357 kilograms is to be launched by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the European Spaceport in French Guiana on Friday (17 January) at 0235 Hrs IST.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 14)

FIRST SPACEBUS NEO SATELLITE SET FOR LAUNCH - The first satellite developed under an initiative to help European industry deliver competitive satellites for the commercial telecommunications market has entered its final phase before launch. Konnect will provide broadband services for Europe and Africa, and was built by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat, its commercial operator, under an ESA Partnership Project.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Jan 14)

PUTIN'S “SATELLITE KILLER” BROKE UP IN SPACE - The Russian military, it seems, continue to experience problems with the operation of spacecraft created to establish hegemony in space. So, shortly after the collapse of the military spacecraft (SC) “Space-2535”, it was reported that collapsed and the satellite “Cosmos-2491”, the media called “satellite killer.” This property was relatively new: the orbit brought him in 2013, writes Inforesist.   More
(Source: SatNews Publishers - Jan 14)

AEHF SATELLITE ARRIVES IN FLORIDA FOR FIRST OF NEARLY 20 SPACE FORCE LAUNCHES THIS YEAR - The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. military’s network of ultra-secure, nuclear-hardened AEHF communications relay stations has arrived in Florida for final preparations for liftoff in March on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, the first of nearly 20 U.S. Space Force missions planned for launch in the first year of operations for the new military service.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)

SPACE JUNK: HOW CLUTTERED IS THE FINAL FRONTIER? - Since the dawn of Sputnik in 1957, space-faring nations have been filling Earth's orbital highways with satellites: GPS, weather forecasting, telecommunications. Decades later, orbital debris is a growing problem. Orbital debris, commonly known as "space junk," exists at all levels of orbit, but is especially concentrated in low Earth orbit. Space junk has the potential to damage working satellites and crewed spacecraft, including the International Space Station.    More
(Source: NPR - Jan 14)

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