LIVE COVERAGE: THREE-MAN CREW, INCLUDING FIRST UAE ASTRONAUT, TO LAND THURSDAY - A Russian commander, his NASA co-pilot and the Emirati to fly in are set to return to Earth Thursday, heading for a fiery re-entry inside the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft on the way to a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan. The trio will depart the International Space Station at 3:37 a.m. EDT (0737 GMT) Thursday, and landing on the Kazakh steppe is scheduled for 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 3)
CHINA COULD BLIND U.S. SATELLITES WITH LASERS - The commander of U.S. Space Command warns that China would likely target U.S. spy satellites in a future conflict and is very likely developing lasers designed to do exactly that. In response, SPACECOM is developing a “playbook” with the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates America’s fleet of reconnaissance satellites, to protect and defend America’s eyes in space. National Defense reports that Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, commander of both SPACECOM and U.S. Air Force Space Command, made the remarks at a gathering organized by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. More (Source: Popular Mechanics - Oct 2)
THE PENTAGON WANTS TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF SATELLITES AND REFUEL ON ORBIT - Northrop Grumman is on the verge of launching a new satellite servicing vehicle that could extend the life of satellites by years, and the Pentagon is interested in becoming a customer. The lifespan of satellites is often limited by their allotment of fuel, which they use to remain in their assigned orbit or to move to a new one. While the satellite might be fully operational for years to come, if it runs out of fuel then it’s the end of the road. So even though the technology already in orbit is still useful to a client, a satellite provider has to launch an entirely new space vehicle with enough fuel to replace the doomed satellite. But what if satellites could be refueled in orbit? More (Source: C4ISRNet - Oct 2)
ASTROSCALE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON WORK ON SPACE DEBRIS REMOVAL - Astroscale will collaborate with the University of Southampton on a project to investigate collision risks between satellites, highlighting the necessity for financial incentives for satellite operators to engage with active debris removal services. The University of Southampton is a partner university on the national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) program and the project with Astroscale will be funded by SPRINT. More (Source: VIA Satellite - Oct 1)
DATA FROM CHINESE SATELLITE SHEDDING LIGHT ON COSMIC RAYS - An international team of researchers studying data from China's Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) has measured cosmic ray protons up to the energy of 100 TeV with high precision for the first time. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes the research they have been conducting on data received from the satellite and what they have learned thus far. More (Source: Phys.org - Oct 1)
“BIG, FAT, JUICY TARGETS”— THE PROBLEM WITH EXISTING EARLY-WARNING SATELLITES. AND A SOLUTION. - In 2018, the US Air Force announced its intention to cancel the seventh and eighth space vehicles in the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program—a collection of satellites that provides early warning of incoming missiles—and declared its desire to transition over to the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program, which will serve the same purpose but which proponents say will be less expensive and more robust. Indeed, it was the escalating costs and vulnerability to countermeasures that seem to have motivated the decision to terminate the SBIRS program. More (Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Oct 1)
MUSK SHOWS OFF NEXT-GENERATION "STARSHIP" PROTOTYPE - SpaceX founder Elon Musk showed off a towering prototype of his next-generation stainless steel "Starship" Saturday, telling a throng of reporters, cheering supporters and company workers the gleaming rocketships could begin piloted orbital test flights within the next year. "With any development into uncharted territory, its difficult to predict these things with precision," the tech billionaire said in a question-and-answer session. "But I do think things are going to move very fast." More (Source: CBS News - Sep 30)
RUSSIA POSTPONES LAUNCH OF 3 COMMUNICATION SATELLITES TO 2020 - As per reports, in September an unnamed official had revealed that three Gonets-M satellites will be launched on the Rocket carrier rocket this November but now it has been postponed to 2020. Another three satellites were supposed to launch atop Soyuz 2.1b rocket later this year. In 2020, another launch of Soyuz 2.1b with three Gonet-M was scheduled and in 2021-22 6 satellites are scheduled to be launched into space by two Angara 1.2 rockets. More (Source: Republic World - Sep 30)
UNPILOTED JAPANESE CARGO SHIP DELIVERS FRESH BATTERIES AND MORE TO SPACE STATION - A robotic Japanese cargo ship successfully arrived at the International Space Station Saturday (Sept. 28) carrying more than 4 tons of supplies, including new batteries for the outpost's solar power grid. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) HTV-8 cargo ship pulled up to the space station at 7:12 a.m. EDT (1112 GMT), where it was captured by a robotic arm wielded by NASA astronaut Christina Koch inside the orbiting lab. The station and HTV-8, also known as Kounotori 8 (Kounotori means "white stork" in Japanese), were soaring 262 miles (422 kilometers) over Angola in southern Africa at the time. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 29)
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