RUSSIA LAUNCHES SPACE SURVEILLANCE SATELLITE - A modified Soyuz rocket delivered a top secret Russian military payload into orbit Monday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, according to the country’s defense ministry. The mission lifted off from the Site 43 launch complex at Plesetsk at 1752 GMT (12:52 p.m. EST; 8:52 p.m. Moscow time) Monday. A Soyuz 2-1v rocket carried a Volga upper stage and the classified military satellite into space, and the Volga stage successfully delivered its payload into the targeted orbit, Russian officials said. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 26)
ARIANE 5 LAUNCH WITH TIBA-1 AND INMARSAT GX5 SCRUBBED - After a short three-month break between flights, Arianespace is looking to return to action with the launch of two telecommunications satellites in TIBA-1 and Inmarsat GX5 on an Ariane 5 rocket. Liftoff from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana was scheduled to occur at the start of a 95-minute launch window on Friday before being scrubbed with less than 20 minutes to launch. Another attempt will take place on Sunday. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 25)
CHINA LAUNCHES TWO MORE BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITES - Maintaining a rapid-fire launch cadence to close out the year, China added two more Beidou satellites to its independent positioning, navigation and timing fleet Saturday with a successful launch aboard a Long March 3B rocket. The Long March 3B launcher, standing 184 feet (56 meters) tall, lifted off from the Xichang space base at 0055 GMT Saturday (7:55 p.m. EST Friday), according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 25)
NASA CONTRACTS SPACEX TO LAUNCH ANOTHER DRAGON FILLED WITH CARGO - The 19th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) contract mission for NASA carries a variety of cutting-edge scientific experiments to the International Space Station. The Dragon cargo spacecraft blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Dec. 4, 2019. Its payloads include investigations studying malting barley in microgravity, the spread of fire and bone and muscle loss, which will be added to the dozens of research projects already under way aboard the microgravity lab. More (Source: Space Daily - Nov 22)
EGYPT TO SEND FIRST COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT ON FRIDAY - Egypt will launch its first communications satellite into orbit on Friday to improve its communications and internet services and attract investment. Tiba-1 is due to be launched just after 11pm local time on one of Europe's Arianespace rockets from a space centre in French Guiana, officials said. It is named after Thebes, or Tiba in Arabic, an ancient Egyptian capital whose ruins are in the modern southern city of Luxor. More (Source: The National - Nov 22)
ITU WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE ADOPTS NEW REGULATORY PROCEDURES FOR NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES - The 38th ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) has adopted a new innovative milestone-based regulatory approach for the deployment of non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) satellites in specific bands and services. The agreement reached at WRC-19 establishes regulatory procedures for the deployment of non-geostationary satellites, including mega-constellations in low-Earth orbit (LEO). More (Source: Space Daily - Nov 22)
THIS IS HOW ELON MUSK CAN FIX THE DAMAGE HIS STARLINK SATELLITES ARE CAUSING TO ASTRONOMY - In any field of business or industry, the prevailing rule has always been that if there isn't a law against it, you are free to do it. If there are no rules protecting a resource, you are free to use or take as much of it as you want to further your own ends. Until regulatory measures are put into place, disruptors and innovators are free to regulate themselves, often to the extraordinary detriment of those who depended on those now-scarce resources. In astronomy, the greatest resource of all is a dark, clear night sky: humanity's window to the Universe. More (Source: Forbes - Nov 21)
BOEING’S FIRST SPACE-READY STARLINER CREW CAPSULE HEADS TO ITS LAUNCH PAD THURSDAY - Boeing’s first Starliner crew capsule to fly in space is set to depart its factory Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a trip to a launch pad a few miles away, where it will be raised atop an Atlas 5 rocket for liftoff next month on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. The Starliner spacecraft is being readied for liftoff no earlier than Dec. 17 from Cape Canaveral on a week-long unpiloted demonstration flight to the International Space Station, a crucial precursor before the first crewed Starliner mission next year. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 21)
HOW THE SEATTLE AREA BECAME A HOTSPOT FOR SATELLITE BUILDERS — AND WHAT COMES NEXT - Seattle may not be the best place to put a launch pad, but the region is turning into one of the most prolific satellite production centers in the United States. “How many of you know that Washington state is actually one of the world’s leading satellite manufacturers?” Roger Myers, a longtime aerospace executive who is currently president-elect of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, asked during a session of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s Economic Leadership Forum on Monday. More (Source: GeekWire - Nov 20)
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