CHINESE SPACE STATION CORE MODULE PASSES REVIEW BUT FACES DELAYS - The first module for China’s planned space station has passed a final review, but the project continues to suffer launch vehicle-related delays. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced Sept. 6 that the 20-metric-ton ‘Tianhe’ module design and prototype had passed final reviews Sept. 2. The flight model would be manufactured in the near future.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 12)

NASA MISSION SCHEDULED TO BLAST OFF FROM VIRGINIA - NASA has announced plans to launch a rocket from Virginia to the International Space Station next month. A news release says Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft will take off from Wallops Island as early as the afternoon of Oct. 21. NASA says the goal is to deliver science investigations, supplies and equipment. The mission includes the testing of a vest created to protect astronauts from radiation, a special oven to study baking food in microgravity and a device to explore recycling plastics for a space device.   More
(Source: Richmond.com - Sep 11)

LAUNCHPAD FIRE FORCES JAPAN TO POSTPONE CARGO SHIP LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION: REPORT - Japan called off a planned cargo ship launch to the International Space Station today (Sept. 10) after a fire erupted on the launch platform for the mission's rocket, according to press reports. "Today’s launch is postponed because we found a fire around the hole at the deck of the mobile launcher at 3:05 a.m. JST (2:05 p.m. EDT/1805 GMT). Now we are trying to extinguish a fire," representatives with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the rocket's builder, said in a Twitter status update.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 11)

BOEING REVEALS 702X FAMILY OF SATELLITES - Boeing unveiled its 702X family of software-defined satellites, highlighting a 1,900 kilogram (kg) variant for Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). The 702X technology enables operators to adapt to changing market conditions by dynamically allocating bandwidth. The 702X builds on Boeing’s existing 702 series satellites. The 702X platform incorporates a mature design, with a Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) version already in production.   More
(Source: Via Satellite - Sep 10)

BOEING UNVEILS SMALL GEO PRODUCT AS PART OF NEW 702X SATELLITE LINEUP - Boeing has joined the growing list of manufacturers offering smaller satellites for geostationary orbit, saying new digital payload technology can reduce the weight of its typical communications spacecraft by half. Boeing’s small GEO satellites will weigh roughly 1,900 kilograms unfueled, relying on reprogrammable, software-defined payloads that are considerably smaller than earlier technologies, Eric Jensen, Boeing’s vice president of global commercial satellite sales, said in an interview.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 9)

JAPANESE CARGO SPACECRAFT SET TO BLAST OFF FROM TANEGASHIMA SPACE CENTER BOUND FOR ISS - A Japanese cargo spacecraft loaded with more than four tons of supplies, spare parts and experiment hardware is scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan to the International Space Station at 5:33 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Live coverage of the launch and capture will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.   More
(Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Sep 8)

UNPILOTED SOYUZ CAPSULE RETURNS TO EARTH WITH HUMANOID ROBOT ON BOARD - An uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft returned to Earth Friday (Sept. 6), bringing a humanoid robot home and wrapping up a first-of-its-kind test flight to the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-14 space capsule landed at 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT) Friday on the steppes of south-central Kazakhstan, where the local time was 3:32 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Sitting inside the spacecraft was no human crew. Instead, the Soyuz carried the humanoid robot Skybot F-850 and other Russian spaceflight gear.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 8)

IT’S OFFICIAL: THE SEPTEMBER 25 UAE MISSION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IS A GO - Moscow: It’s officially a go for ‘UAE Mission 1’. The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, Russia on Thursday morning gave the green light for the September 25 mission that will take the UAE’s first Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori to the International Space Station (ISS).    More
(Source: Gulf News - Sep 6)

RASPBERRY PI STRAPPED TO A SATELLITE TAKES STUNNING PICTURE OF EARTH - A satellite company in the UK, SSTL, has sent a £50 (around $60/AU$90) Raspberry Pi Zero mini PC into space, where it has taken a stunning picture of the planet Earth. SSTL attached the Raspberry Pi Zero to its Demonstration of Technology satellite (DoT-1), and the only modification the company made to the single board educational computer was that it swapped out the standard lens of the connected camera for a fish-eye one.   More
(Source: TechRadar India - Sep 6)

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