POLISH SPACE STARTUP PUTS FIRST NANOSATS INTO ORBIT, EYES SATELLITE CONSTELLATION.. - Polish space startup SatRevolution successfully deployed its first two nanosats, the Swiatowid and the KRAKsat, into orbit from the International Space Station July 3. The company says the deployment, carried out by NanoRacks, marks the beginning of its initiative to place some 1,024 nanosats into orbit as part of its Real-time Earth-observation Constellation (REC) project. Grzegorz Zwolinski, the president of SatRevolution’s management board, told SpaceNews that, under the project, the business aims to place 16 nanosats into orbit by 2022.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 10)

EMERGING SMALL SATS COULD COMPLICATE SPECTRUM - Federal agencies ranging from the Federal Communications Commission to the National Institute of Standards and Technology are pushing advances in small satellite technologies, but there is a downside for spectrum holders, according to experts. Small satellite technology is a revolution the FCC can't ignore, Chairman Ajit Pai told a group of satellite industry executives at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on July 9.   More
(Source: FCW - Jul 10)

LIGHTSAIL 2 BEAMS 1ST PHOTOS HOME FROM ORBIT! HOW TO TRACK THE LITTLE SATELLITE. - The Planetary Society's solar-sailing spacecraft LightSail 2 beamed back its first views of Earth on Sunday (July 7). The images feature Earth's silhouette as the spacecraft floats into an orbital sunset. Sunlight scattering around the onboard cameras creates epic lens flares that would make the likes of action directors J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay proud.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 9)

SPACEX WINS NASA CONTRACT TO LAUNCH X-RAY TELESCOPE ON REUSED ROCKET - NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2021, bypassing Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus rocket for the task. The $50.3 million contract with SpaceX announced Monday covers “the launch service and other mission-related costs,” NASA said in a press release.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 9)

NOW YOU CAN CHECK IN ON BILL NYE’S SOLAR SAIL AS IT ORBITS EARTH - A new dashboard will let people track the progress of one of Earth’s most unique satellites from anywhere in the world. The Planetary Society just announced a new website that will constantly display the status of the crowdfunded satellite as it orbits the planet. LightSail 2 is the successor to LightSail, a spacecraft that launched in 2015 and whose primary mission was to show that a sail could unfurl in space. The team lost communication with the first LightSail a week after it made it to space, then got communication back, then lost it again, then, finally, got a gorgeous picture of the sail unfurled.    More
(Source: The Verge - Jul 8)

UAE SATELLITE LAUNCH POSTPONED FOR SECOND TIME - The launch of the UAE’s newest satellite has been delayed for a second time over poor weather. FalconEye1, a reconnaissance satellite, had been due to be launched from Guiana Space Centre on Saturday July 6 but this was postponed because of high winds on the eastern coast of South America.   More
(Source: The National - Jul 8)

CHINA TO LAUNCH CONSTELLATION WITH 72 SATELLITES FOR INTERNET OF THINGS - A research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced a constellation program, planning to launch 72 small satellites for the Internet of Things in the next three years. The program will be implemented by Beijing-based private satellite company "Commsat," which was funded by the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics under the CAS. A total of eight communication satellites of the program were sent into space last year for in-orbit tests.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Jul 8)

AS NASA AIMS FOR THE MOON, AN AGING SPACE STATION FACES AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE - When a rocket carrying the first module of the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan in November of 1998, NASA officials said that the station would serve as an orbiting home for astronauts and cosmonauts for at least 15 years. It's now been over 18 years that the station has been continuously occupied by people. The place is impressive, with more living space than a six-bedroom house, two bathrooms and a large bay window for looking down at Earth.   More
(Source: NPR - Jul 8)

MYSTERIOUS X-37B MILITARY SPACE PLANE CAUGHT ON CAMERA (PHOTO) - Skywatcher and satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands recently caught a rare glimpse of the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane. Vandebergh said he'd been hunting for the robotic spacecraft for months and finally managed to track it down in May. But it took a bit longer to get photos of the vehicle. "When I tried to observe it again [in] mid-June, it didn't meet the predicted time and path," Vandebergh explained.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 7)

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