WHO WILL BE ABLE TO FIX A SATELLITE FOR THE AIR FORCE IN 2025? - The Air Force wants to know what kind of on-orbit services the commercial space industry will be able to offer the military in 2025. The service’s Space and Missile Systems Center issued a request for information Oct. 25 asking industry what innovative solutions they will be able to bring to bear on a number of topics, from hosted payloads or ridesharing to the on orbit maneuvering of satellites, in the five-year period starting in 2025.    More
(Source: C4ISRNet - Oct 31)

HERE'S WHAT CALIFORNIA'S KINCADE WILDFIRE LOOKS LIKE FROM SPACE - Northern California’s Kincade wildfire has grown so large that a satellite was able to record the plumes from 22,300 miles away in space. The fire that began on Oct. 23 has grown to burn more than 66,200 acres of Sonoma county and is so far only 5% contained. As of Monday, three people have died, at least two first responders have been injured, 96 structures like homes and businesses have been destroyed and an additional 16 structures have been damaged.   More
(Source: TIME - Oct 30)

TINY NASA SATELLITE WILL SOON SEE 'RAINBOWS' IN CLOUDS - NASA's next attempt to map invisible specks in the atmosphere that impact climate change and air quality started from a window seat over the Pacific. Vanderlei Martins, a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, was flying across the Pacific Ocean a few years ago when he looked out the window and decided to photograph the bright white clouds floating by. On a whim, he took out a polarizer, similar to a sunglasses lens, and rotated in front of his camera as he snapped photos. The result? "I saw rainbows in the clouds," Martins said.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Oct 29)

A POSSIBLE TECHNIQUE FOR GIVING NAMES TO NAMELESS SATELLITES - There are many satellites in space and we know which launch put most of them up there. But there are a number of them that are not associated with a specific launch, though it would be desirable to identify which put them into orbit. This article is about a technique which could help associate objects in space with particular launches, one that I am currently developing. But let’s start with some background information: what do we know about most satellites?    More
(Source: The Space Review - Oct 29)

SPACEX FIRES UP A CREW DRAGON ABORT ENGINE AHEAD OF CRITICAL TESTS (VIDEO) - SpaceX just fired up a launch escape system engine on its new Crew Dragon spacecraft, setting the stage for a critical ground and flight tests of an emergency system to keep astronauts safe during flight. The escape engine test, which SpaceX revealed in this 13-second video on Thursday (Oct) 24), shows a pair of SuperDraco engines in action during an uncrewed ground test. It is expected be followed by a full-up ground static-fire test and an in-flight abort test in the upcoming weeks.    More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 28)

AIR FORCE X-37B SECRET SPACEPLANE LANDS AFTER 780 DAYS IN ORBIT - The U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane successfully landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility Oct. 27 at 3:51 AM EST, the Air Force announced. This was the fifth mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. It flew for 780 days during this mission, breaking its own record by being in orbit for more than two years. As of today, the total number of days spent on-orbit for the entire test vehicle program is 2,865 days, the Air Force said. The spaceplane originally was designed to fly for just 270 days.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 27)

SPACEX'S NEXT CREW DRAGON TEST COULD HAPPEN NEXT WEEK - SpaceX is reportedly gearing up for the next test of its Crew Dragon capsule. A static fire test (a simulated launch with a rocket engine secured to the ground) is set to take place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida November 2nd, according to CNBC. Engadget has contacted SpaceX for comment. An "anomaly" that occurred during another static fire test in April caused an uncrewed capsule to explode. Earlier this month, SpaceX suggested the problem was due to a leak somewhere between the launch abort and orbital maneuvering systems. It has redesigned that part of the capsule.   More
(Source: Engadget - Oct 27)

NASA LIKELY TO BUY SOYUZ SEATS, DEFER JAPANESE ASTRONAUT FLIGHT - With lingering uncertainly about when new commercial crew spaceships will be ready to launch humans, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Thursday the space agency will replace a Japanese astronaut with a U.S. space flier on the next Russian Soyuz launch to the International Space Station. He added that it remains in NASA’s interests to pay Russia for one or more additional Soyuz seats next year to ensure the station remains continuously staffed with at least one American.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 26)

NASA TELEVISION COVERAGE SET FOR CYGNUS RESUPPLY MISSION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is scheduled to launch its next resupply mission to the International Space Station at 9:59 a.m. EDT Saturday, Nov. 2. NASA's prelaunch coverage will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website beginning Friday, Nov. 1. Loaded with around 8,200 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, Northrop Grumman's 12th commercial resupply mission for the space station will launch on the company's Cygnus cargo spacecraft on an Antares rocket from Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.   More
(Source: PRNewswire - Oct 26)

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