PROTON LAUNCHES RUSSIAN WEATHER SATELLITE - The final Proton launch of the year lifted off Dec. 24 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, sending a Russian weather satellite into orbit. Proton lifted off at 7:03 a.m. Eastern with the Electro-L No. 3 satellite, according to Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos. The satellite separated from the four-stage rocket six hours and 37 minutes later. Five Proton rockets launched this year — four for the Russian government and one for International Launch Services, which sells commercial missions.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 25)

THE GREATEST SPACEFLIGHT MOMENTS OF 2019 - Three lunar missions, commercial spaceflight milestones, the first all-woman spacewalk — 2019 was a busy year in space for public and private entities alike. NASA looked forward to new moon landings while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. SpaceX launched its first commercial crew spacecraft and lofted a miniature prototype of its massive Starship vehicle. Planetary missions began and ended, sometimes much sooner than planned.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 25)

CHINA PREPPING FOR COMEBACK LAUNCH OF HEAVY-LIFT LONG MARCH 5 ROCKET FRIDAY - China's heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket is being readied for its comeback flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province. The carrier rocket, coded as Long March 5 Y3, is planned to be launched around the end of December, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). A LaunchStuff Twitter post pegs the liftoff as slated for Dec. 27.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 24)

CHRISTMAS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The crew of the International Space Station is having an out-of-this-world celebration for Christmas. Dressed in Santa caps and reindeer antlers, astronauts Andrew Morgan, Christina Koch, Luca Parmitano, and Jessica Meir shared their plans for the holiday from orbit. The crew likes to dim the lights and watch Christmas movies, including “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”   More
(Source: WHSV - Dec 24)

BOEING'S STARLINER LANDS SAFELY BACK TO EARTH AFTER ABORTED SPACE STATION MISSION - Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth on Sunday, landing safely in the New Mexico desert. The journey is being hailed as a major achievement despite failing to complete a core objective: docking at the international space station. Engineers and scientists are now analyzing data from the trip ahead of a plan to send U.S. astronauts to space in 2020. It would mark the first American-launched space travel since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011.   More
(Source: NPR - Dec 23)

NASA SELECTS ULA TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE - NASA’s Launch Services Program announced that it selected United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) Atlas V vehicle to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T mission, the second to last satellite in the GOES constellation.   More
(Source: Weatherboy - Dec 22)

NEW COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCHED IN NORTH CHINA - A new commercial satellite was successfully launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province Friday. The "BDSAGR-1" satellite has entered its scheduled orbit and is expected to provide accurate remote sensing data on crops in the river basins in north China and help modernize and digitalize China's agricultural industry.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 22)

BOEING STARLINER FAILS KEY NASA MISSION AS AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS - Boeing’s spacecraft Starliner, developed to fly astronauts, failed to achieve the goal of its critical flight test for NASA, which launched to space on Friday. Starliner was supposed to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), deliver cargo, and return safely – to demonstrate its capabilities and safety. But the spacecraft will not dock with the space station after its autonomous flight control system misfired shortly after the launch, putting Starliner in the wrong orbit.   More
(Source: CNBC - Dec 20)

WATCH BOEING LAUNCH ITS NEW PASSENGER SPACECRAFT ON ITS FIRST FLIGHT TO THE SPACE STATION - Tomorrow morning, December 20th, Boeing is poised to launch its brand-new passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, from Florida, sending it to the International Space Station on top of an Atlas V rocket. The capsule won’t have any people inside, but it’ll be the first flight of the vehicle, meant to prove that future passengers will be safe when they do board the Starliner for the first time next year.   More
(Source: The Verge - Dec 20)

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