SOYUZ LANDS IN KAZAKHSTAN WITH INTERNATIONAL CREW - A Russian cosmonaut, his Canadian co-pilot and a NASA flight engineer boarded their Soyuz spacecraft, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Monday evening, landing on the balmy steppe of Kazakhstan to close out an action-packed 204-day mission. With commander Oleg Kononenko at the controls, flanked on the left by Canadian David Saint-Jacques and on the right by veteran Army helicopter pilot Anne McClain, the Soyuz MS-11/57S spacecraft separated from the station’s upper Poisk module at 7:25 p.m. EDT Monday, setting up landing three hours and 22 minutes later.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 26)

SPACEX FALCON HEAVY: ELON MUSK'S ROCKET COMPANY LAUNCHES ITS 'MOST DIFFICULT' MISSION TO DATE - A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful launch vehicle in the world, roared into the sky overnight for what CEO Elon Musk called the "most difficult launch" his rocket company has ever attempted. Lift off occurred at 2:30 am ET Tuesday from a launch pad in Florida. The rocket carried an eclectic batch of 24 experimental satellites into space. Getting the devices to their intended orbits was expected to take hours and require some complicated maneuvering.   More
(Source: CNN - Jun 25)

CHINA LAUNCHES LATEST BEIDOU SATELLITE FOR GLOBAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM - A Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 2:09 p.m. Eastern Monday, sending a Beidou satellite toward an inclined geosynchronous orbit. The launch occurred within a window indicated by the issuance of an airspace closure notice days earlier. Spectator footage provided the first indication of liftoff, with mission success announced by a media arm of the People’s Liberation Army just over an hour after launch. The mission involved the 21st satellite of the Beidou-3 rollout and the second to be placed in an inclined geosynchronous orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 25)

NEW SATELLITE SYSTEM AIMS TO IMPROVE HURRICANE FORECASTING - A system of new weather satellites is due to launch into space as early as late Monday night, and if all goes to plan, it should lead to even greater reliability when it comes to predicting hurricanes and other potentially deadly storms. COSMIC 2 (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) is a system of six satellites that’s part of a joint program between NOAA, the U.S. Air Force, and Taiwan.   More
(Source: WTOP - Jun 24)

NASA'S ASTROBEE CUBE ROBOT FLIES IN SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME - NASA's Astrobee cube robots are finally earning their space wings... in a manner of speaking. The agency has confirmed that one of the bots, Bumble, flew on its own for the first time aboard the International Space Station on June 14th. While the trip involved only basic movements like flying forward and rotating, it was proof machine could work in its intended microgravity environment.   More
(Source: Engadget - Jun 24)

NEXT ATLAS 5 LAUNCH DELAYED BY BATTERY FAILURE - The next launch of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite, previously scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed to no earlier than July 9 to replace a failed battery on the vehicle. In a statement Sunday, ULA said the launch was delayed “due to a vehicle battery failure discovered during final processing.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 24)

SPACEX IS ABOUT TO LAUNCH 152 DEAD PEOPLE'S REMAINS INTO ORBIT ABOARD A FALCON HEAVY ROCKET - SpaceX is gearing up for the third-ever launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket: the world's most powerful operational launch system. The mission, called Space Test Program-2 (STP-2), is slated to lift off between 11:30 p.m. ET on June 24 and 2:30 a.m. ET on June 25, weather permitting. The launch of cremated remains is facilitated by a company called Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, which purchases available room on spacecraft, installs a container, then packs it with small metal capsules filled with ashes. It refers to these as " participants."    More
(Source: Business Insider - Jun 24)

NASA ASTRONAUT ANNE MCCLAIN TO DEPART THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MONDAY AFTER 204-DAY MISSION - NASA astronaut Anne McClain and two crewmates on the International Space Station are scheduled to conclude their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory Monday, June 24. Live coverage of their return will begin at 3:30 p.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website. McClain, a flight engineer for Expedition 59, expedition and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, will close the hatch to their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft Monday afternoon and undock from the station.   More
(Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Jun 24)

TWO COMMERCIAL BROADCAST SATELLITES LAUNCHED ON ARIANE 5 ROCKET - A pair of television broadcast satellites for AT&T and Eutelsat rocketed into orbit Thursday evening, riding a European Ariane 5 launcher into space in a spectacular sunset launch from the Guiana Space Center on the northeastern coast South America. After a smooth 11-hour countdown, the Ariane 5’s Vulcain 2 main engine flashed to life at 2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT; 6:43 p.m. French Guiana time) Thursday, followed by ignition of the launcher’s twin solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to force the heavy-lift vehicle into the sky.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 22)

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