RUSSIA LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL X-RAY ASTRONOMY MISSION - A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy. The new observatory will detect X-ray emissions from across the sky, including those from huge clusters of galaxies. By measuring the mass, luminosity and distance of distant galaxies, Spektr-RG could help astronomers better understand dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. More (Source: SpaceFLight Now - Jul 14)
ARCHINAUT, A CONSTRUCTION ROBOT FOR SPACE, COULD LAUNCH A TEST FLIGHT IN 2022 - ff-Earth manufacturing is set to take a giant leap a few years from now. NASA has awarded California startup Made In Space $73.7 million to give the company's "Archinaut" spacecraft-assembly technology an orbital test. The "Archinaut One" demonstration craft will launch to low Earth orbit aboard a Rocket Lab Electron booster no earlier than 2022, NASA officials announced Friday (July 12). Once aloft, Archinaut One will 3D print two 32-foot-long (10 meters) beams, which will extend from each side of the spacecraft. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 14)
CHINA SET TO CARRY OUT CONTROLLED DEORBITING OF TIANGONG-2 SPACE LAB - China appears set to deorbit its Tiangong-2 space lab in the near future, according to a social media release from the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO). CMSEO announced a quiz competition (Chinese) Friday through its WeChat social media platform account, testing knowledge of launch times and mission details, to mark the ‘return of Tiangong-2’. No date for the planned re-entry was stated by CMSEO, which manages China’s human spaceflight endeavors. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jul 13)
NASA TO BROADCAST LAUNCH, ARRIVAL OF ASTRONAUT ANDREW MORGAN AT SPACE STATION - A multinational crew of space travelers, including NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on Saturday, July 20 – the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic landing on the Moon. NASA Television and the agency's website will provide live coverage of the crew's launch and arrival. Morgan, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan... More (Source: PRNewswire - Jul 13)
CRASHED UAE MILITARY SPY SATELLITE RAISES POSSIBILITY OF ENEMY CYBERATTACK - An investigation has been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) and French aerospace group Arianespace into the failed launch of a rocket carrying a military spy satellite into space for the United Arab Emirates. Two minutes after take-off, a "major anomaly" sent the expensive, high-tech payload into the Atlantic—the first failure for Arianespace's Vega rockets after 14 successful missions. The two French-built Falcon Eye satellites, of which this was the first, were designed "to provide a wholly new capability to [the UAE's] military," according to defense analysts, "representing the most advanced optics France had ever sold to another country." More (Source: Forbes - Jul 13)
DROP TEST MOVES VIRGIN ORBIT CLOSER TO FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCH - A full-scale model of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped small satellite launcher, filled with water and antifreeze instead of rocket fuel, fell away from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 carrier jet Wednesday and impacted on a test range at Edwards Air Force Base in California, a key test that paves the way for the company’s first space mission later this year. Backed by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, Virgin Orbit aims to carve out a slice of the growing small satellite launch market alongside Rocket Lab and other companies. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 12)
MILITARY SPY SATELLITE TARGETING IRAN CRASHES TO EARTH AFTER CATASTROPHIC FAILURE - A military spy satellite has come crashing down to earth after the failure of its launch rocket, sending the expensive payload into the Atlantic. The UAE-owned satellite was intended for dual-use, meaning both military and civilian reconnaissance applications—and on the military side, a UAE satellite would have been charged with monitoring Iran. For the UAE, monitoring Iranian movements in the Gulf is critical to national security. Iran views the UAE as part of the axis lined up against it, alongside the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia. More (Source: Forbes - Jul 12)
CAN WE USE SPECIAL SAILS TO BRING OLD SATELLITES BACK DOWN TO EARTH? - The growing problem of space debris in LEO (Low-Earth Orbit) is garnering more and more attention. With thousands of satellites in orbit, and thousands more on the way, our appetite for satellites seems boundless. But every satellite has a shelf-life. What do we do with them when they’ve outlived their usefulness and devolve into simple, troublesome space debris? In the next five years alone, it’s expected that we will launch up to 2600 more nanosatellites and cubesats. More (Source: Universe Today - Jul 11)
ROBOTIC SPACEX CARGO MISSION COULD AID SPACE SETTLEMENT - SpaceX's Dragon capsule will launch toward the ISS on July 21 with lots of intriguing experiments aboard. The next SpaceX mission to the International Space Station (ISS) may be uncrewed, but it could nonetheless eventually help humanity extend its footprint far beyond low Earth orbit. The company's robotic Dragon cargo capsule is scheduled to launch toward the ISS atop a Falcon 9 rocket on July 21 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 11)
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