CHINA PLANS TO BUILD ENORMOUS SOLAR ARRAY IN SPACE — AND IT COULD COLLECT MORE ENERGY IN A YEAR THAN 'ALL THE OIL ON EARTH' - Chinese scientists have announced a plan to build an enormous, 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) wide solar power station in space that will beam continuous energy back to Earth via microwaves. The project, which will see its components lofted to a geostationary orbit above Earth using super-heavy rockets, has been dubbed "another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth."   More
(Source: Live Science - Jan 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 131 SATELLITES ON TRANSPORTER 12 RIDESHARE MISSION - SpaceX launched a slew of satellites to orbit from California today (Jan. 14). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 131 different payloads lifted off on the company's Transporter 12 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 2:09 p.m. EST (1909 GMT; 11:09 a.m. local California time). That's a big number, but it's not a record for most payloads sent up on a single launch. That mark is 143, which SpaceX set in January 2021 on the Transporter 1 mission.   More
(Source: Space,cin - Jan 15)

CHINA'S SMART DRAGON-3 ROCKET LAUNCHES SATELLITES FROM SEA - A Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifted off on Monday in east China's Shandong Province, sending the satellite group CentiSpace 01 into the planned orbit. The rocket blasted off at 11 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the sea near the city of Haiyang. Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center conducted the offshore launch mission.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Jan 14)

THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM? SPADEX SATELLITES 230 METRES APART, ISRO MAY ATTEMPT DOCKING TODAY - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping to get third-time lucky as it is likely to make another attempt at docking the two satellites of the SpaDeX mission in space on Sunday. The two satellites, called Chaser and Target, were brought together, just 230 metres apart, on Saturday evening and locked in that configuration for further checks. Officials told The Indian Express that the final docking manoeuvre may be carried out on Sunday.   More
(Source: The Indian Express - Jan 13)

BLUE ORIGIN READY FOR MAIDEN FLIGHT OF NEW GLENN - After years of development, Blue Origin’s semi-reusable heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, is due to launch on its maiden flight now on Jan. 13 at 1:00 AM EST (06:00 UTC) after recently completing its seven-engine hotfire and moving to the right due to sea state conditions for recovery. The flight is set to launch a Blue Ring Pathfinder payload to demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s future Blue Ring multi-mission space mobility platform. Blue Origin pushed the launch from Jan. 10 due to rough seas, which would have precluded a booster recovery.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 12)

FOUR ASTRANIS GEO SATELLITES PASS INITIAL COMMISSIONING MILESTONE - Astranis said Jan. 10 that all four of its recently launched broadband satellites have passed early tests and begun using electric propulsion to reach geostationary orbit in the coming months. The satellites launched on a Falcon 9 rocket Dec. 29 and feature multiple upgrades over Arcturus, the San Francisco-based manufacturer’s debut spacecraft, which malfunctioned during final testing after reaching orbital position in May 2023.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 12)

NASA’S 2024 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ACHIEVEMENTS - or more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth for the benefit of humanity. The space station is a springboard to NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including future missions to the Moon under Artemis, and ultimately, human exploration of Mars. Read more about the groundbreaking work conducted in 2024 aboard the station...   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 11)

SPACEX LAUNCHES, LANDS FIRST STAGE BOOSTER FOR RECORD-SETTING 25TH TIME DURING STARLINK FLIGHT - SpaceX maintained its rapid pace of launching an orbital mission on average every two days with its Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday afternoon. It also completed a record-breaking 25th landing of an orbital class rocket. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-12 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) happened at 2:11 p.m. EST (1911 UTC). This will be SpaceX’s 5th Falcon 9 launch in 2025.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 11)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARSHIELD SATELLITES FOR THE NRO ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX completed its first West Coast Falcon 9 launch of the year Thursday night, which featured the latest batch of Starshield satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff of the NROL-153 mission from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:53 p.m. PST (10:53 p.m. EST, 0353 UTC). This was SpaceX’s fourth orbital launch of the year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 10)

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