ROCKET LAB DELIVERS ON DEDICATED LAUNCH FOR ASTRO DIGITAL - A technology demonstration microsatellite for Astro Digital rode a Rocket Lab Electron launcher into orbit Wednesday (U.S. time) from New Zealand, setting the stage for the debut of new systems on the next Electron flight as engineers move closer to retrieving and reusing the rocket’s first stage. The 55-foot-tall (17-meter) Electron rocket fired nine Rutherford engines with nearly 50,000 pounds of thrust at 9:22 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0122 GMT Thursday) to climb off its launch pad on Mahia Peninsula, the home of Rocket Lab’s privately-run spaceport on on New Zealand’s North Island.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 17)

FIRST ALL-FEMALE SPACEWALK ON TAP FRIDAY TO REPLACE FAILED BATTERY CONTROLLER - First all-female spacewalk on tap Friday to replace failed battery controller By William Harwood Updated on: October 15, 2019 / 7:24 PM / CBS News Two NASA astronauts will take part in the first all-female spacewalk Friday, a critical outing to restore lost power in the wake of an equipment failure that cropped up after new batteries were installed in the International Space Station's solar power system during two recent spacewalks. Astronauts Christina Koch, making her fourth spacewalk, or EVA, and Jessica Meir, making her first, will float outside the station to remove a malfunctioning 19-year-old battery charge-discharge unit, or BCDU, on the far left end of the station's power truss and install a 232-pound replacement.   More
(Source: CBS News - Oct 16)

SPACEX SUBMITS PAPERWORK FOR 30,000 MORE STARLINK SATELLITES - SpaceX has asked the International Telecommunication Union to arrange spectrum for 30,000 additional Starlink satellites. SpaceX, which is already planning the world’s largest low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation by far, filed paperwork in recent weeks for up to 30,000 additional Starlink satellites on top of the 12,000 already approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 16)

ROCKET LAB PREPS FOR COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCH THIS WEEK - Rocket Lab’s fifth flight of the year is set for liftoff as soon as Wednesday (U.S. time) carrying a small experimental satellite to orbit for Astro Digital, a Silicon Valley company aiming to demonstrate technologies in space after an earlier focus on Earth observation. The mission was delayed two days because of stormy weather at Rocket Lab’s launch site, located on Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 16)

JAPANESE SATELLITE RE-ENTERS ATMOSPHERE AFTER EXPERIMENTS IN ULTRA-LOW ORBIT - An experimental Japanese satellite has ended its mission after proving it could operate at super-low altitudes, testing an Earth-imaging camera and using ion propulsion to fight against aerodynamic drag at an altitude of 112 miles (181 kilometers). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Tsubame satellite, named for the Japanese word for barn swallow, re-entered the atmosphere Oct. 2 after a nearly three-year mission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 16)

UC BERKELEY WAS ABOUT TO LAUNCH A SATELLITE. THEN PG&E SAID IT WAS CUTTING POWER - Last Monday, just as the workday was winding down, Paula Milano received a phone call that threw her week into chaos. Milano, who helps run the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley, had been gearing up for a satellite launch. But on the phone now was a friend of hers, with bad news: PG&E, the power company, was warning the school that its electricity could be cut Wednesday—making the campus one of more than 700,000 customers that would suffer the same fate. The outage was a precautionary measure to keep forecasted high winds from jostling electrical equipment and starting the next massive wildfire.    More
(Source: WIRED - Oct 16)

SCIENTISTS PROPOSE NEW SATELLITE TECH TO DODGE SPACE JUNK FROM MEGACONSTELLATIONS - If a disastrous space junk chain reaction ends up surrounding Earth with a belt of destructive shrapnel, state-of-the-art infrared cameras and gel-based rockets just might help future satellites dodge such debris, a new study finds. Space debris might not sound dangerous until one realizes that in low Earth orbit — up to about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) in altitude — such debris collides with an average speed of about 22,370 mph (36,000 km/h), according to NASA. At such speeds, even tiny pieces of space debris can inflict devastating damage.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 15)

NEXT YEAR, NEW SPACE MISSIONS WILL TEST TECHNOLOGIES TO FIX BUSTED SATELLITES IN ORBIT - Next year, the long-held dream of repairing satellites already in orbit around Earth will come a little closer to reality. Two new missions — from military contractor Northrop Grumman and a startup called Astroscale — will send spacecraft into orbit to rendezvous with other vehicles zooming around Earth to see if it’s possible for two satellites to delicately meet up with each other in space. If successful, these missions could mark a big first step toward cleaning up Earth orbit and making it a more sustainable place.   More
(Source: The Verge - Oct 15)

TINY MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL AIMS TO PUT A WASHING MACHINE IN OUTER SPACE - A tiny high school in east central Minnesota with barely 200 students is turning out some of the world’s most advanced technology. An ethanol-fueled car that gets more than 500 miles per gallon? They’ve built that. A prosthetic foot that’s been used by the world’s top paralympic skiers? Built that, too. Now the tech students in this town of 1,800 some 60 miles north of the Twin Cities are working on a new project that’s out of this world — literally.   More
(Source: - Oct 15)

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