JAXA TO LAUNCH EIGHTH HTV SPACE STATION CARGO MISSION IN SEPTEMBER - The eighth H-2 Transfer Vehicle will blast off on top of an H-2B rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, located on Tanegashima Island near the southwestern extent of Japan’s main islands. Liftoff is set for 2133 GMT (5:33 p.m. EDT) on Sept. 10, or 6:33 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Sept. 11, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The HTV will arrive at the space station Sept. 14, assuming an on-time launch.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 30)

ISRAELI SATELLITE 'AMOS-17' TO BE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE NEXT WEEK FROM FLORIDA - Israeli satellite “Amos-17” is scheduled to be mounted on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center next Sunday or Monday, Ynet reported. Intended to improve TV, cellular and Internet services to Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Amos-17 has an expected lifespan of about 20 years, and will orbit 36,000 km. above central Africa.   More
(Source: The Jerusalem Post - Jul 29)

CHINA LAUNCHES THREE MILITARY SATELLITES, TESTS NEW ROCKET STEERING FINS - China launched a Long March 2C rocket Friday with three Yaogan 30 military satellites, and tested new grid fins on the Long March’s first stage to help guide the spent booster away from populated areas. The two-stage Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Xichang space center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province at 0357 GMT Friday (11:57 p.m. EDT Thursday), according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s lead developer of satellite launchers.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 28)

USED SPACEX DRAGON CARGO SHIP ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION FOR RECORD 3RD TIME - SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station today (July 27), ending a two-day orbital chase and setting a new record for SpaceX's reusable spacecraft. The Dragon, which launched Thursday (July 25) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, was captured by the space station's huge robotic arm at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 267 miles (430 kilometers) above the coast of southern Chile in South America.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 28)

SATELLITES ARE STARTING TO WATCH YOUR EVERY MOVE - The dramatic advances in satellite imaging technology in the last 10 years have privacy advocates worried about 24-hour surveillance. Right now, US federal regulations help keep things in check, so that while commercial satellite imagery is powerful enough, for instance, to see a car, it's not detailed enough to identify the make and model, according to a report from the MIT Technology Review.    More
(Source: CNET - Jul 27)

WHAT BROKE A UK SATELLITE FOR A WEEK? - The European Union’s Galileo satellite navigation system was unusable for four days following an outage with undisclosed origins. The Galileo is the EU’s global positioning system that was purchased in 2016 in an attempt to receive GPS data outside of the United States and Russia’s systems. The outage started July 14 and affected the navigation and timing systems, but did not have an effect on the Search and Rescue service (SAR).    More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Jul 27)

FRANCE TO DEVELOP ANTI-SATELLITE LASER WEAPONS: DEFENCE MINISTER - France plans to develop anti-satellite laser weapons but will only deploy them in self-defence, its defence minister said on Thursday, as she laid out the country's new military strategy for space. Major military powers around the world are investing in new technology for space, which is seen as a new military frontier, with the ability to destroy or cripple satellites seen as a key capability.   More
(Source: FRANCE 24 - Jul 27)

SPACE JUNK: A RECYCLING STATION COULD BE CLEANING UP IN EARTH ORBIT BY 2050 - There are about 22,000 large objects orbiting the Earth, including working and broken satellites and bits of old rocket from past space expeditions. If you include all the equipment dropped by astronauts while floating in space and the debris from colliding satellites down to around 1cm in size, there are about one million bits of space junk in Earth's orbit. These numbers are likely to be underestimates. With more satellites and rockets launching each year, collisions with space junk are becoming more likely. Losing a satellite could mean your TV reception is poor or the weather forecast is a bit less reliable.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Jul 27)

SEE 360-DEGREE VIEW INSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Astronaut and Euronews space correspondent Luca Parmitano has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). This is the 360-degree view of the base. These panoramic images, available through Google Earth, show the areas inside the ISS where he will be spending the next six months as part of the Beyond mission. The service module — including its living quarters, life-support system and data processing — can be seen along with the docking compartment used for spacewalks and the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) which can be assembled in space for extra room to work.   More
(Source: Euronews - Jul 27)

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