WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN CREW DRAGON LAUNCHES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - It's finally happening. Nearly 8 years after the final space shuttle flight, a crew-capable spacecraft is once again ready to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. SpaceX's Crew Dragon is scheduled to blast off for a 6-day, uncrewed test flight on 2 March at 02:49 EST (07:49 UTC). If all goes well, the spacecraft will dock at the International Space Station (ISS) on 3 March around 06:00 EST (11:00 UTC) and stay there until 8 March, when it returns to Earth and splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. More (Source: The Planetary Society - Feb 28)
ISRO TO LAUNCH DEFENCE SATELLITE IN MARCH FOR DEFENCE RESEARCH BODY - In a special mission in March, the Indian space agency will launch an electronic intelligence satellite Emisat for the DRDO, 28 third party satellites and also demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits with a new variant of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, said a top official. The exact date has not been specified yet. "It is a special mission for us. We will be using a PSLV rocket with four strap-on motors. Further, for the first time we will be trying to orbit the rocket at three different altitudes," K. Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS. More (Source: NDTV - Feb 28)
FIRST SIX ONEWEB SATELLITES LAUNCHED FROM FRENCH GUIANA - Carrying the ambition of an entrepreneur with a passion for connecting the world, a half-dozen satellites lifted off Wednesday aboard a Soyuz rocket from the edge of the Amazon jungle in South America to kick off a series of at least 21 planned launches to deploy OneWeb’s global Internet network. A Soyuz ST-B rocket fired into a mostly cloudy sky at 6:37 p.m. local time in French Guiana (2137 GMT; 4:37 p.m. EST), sending the six refrigerator-sized north from the European-run spaceport with a push from 32 engine nozzles generating more than 900,000 pounds of thrust. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 28)
SES-12 SATELLITE NOW OPERATIONAL - SES’ newest satellite, SES-12, is now ready to serve its video, fixed data, mobility, and government customers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The satellite is designed with both wide beams and High Throughput Satellite (HTS) beams, and will join SES-8 at 95 degrees East. SES-12 is the latest satellite that SES has launched to that orbital position where it will operate under the authority of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The all-electric satellite will replace and augment the services currently being provided on SES’s NSS-6 satellite. More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 27)
COMPANY'S 10TH CARGO SUPPLY MISSION FEATURED EXPANDED COMMERCIAL CAPABILITIES FOR CYGNUS SPACECRAFT - Northrop Grumman reports that the company successfully completed its 10th cargo supply mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract. During the mission, the "S.S. John Young" Cygnus met the needs of multiple customers throughout this flight to the International Space Station. The spacecraft removed more than 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of disposal cargo from the space station. After departure, the extended mission included the deployment of three CubeSats via the NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer at two different altitudes and two CubeSats from the Slingshot CubeSat Deployer System. More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 27)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION’S ORBIT RAISED BY 1.6 KM - Specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center have adjusted the International Space Station’s orbit, raising it to the medium altitude of 408.5 km, a spokesman for the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash) said on Tuesday. "The orbit adjustment was performed as scheduled. As a result of the maneuver the medium altitude of the space station’s orbit was raised to 408.5 km," the spokesman said. The research institute earlier told TASS that the ISS’s orbit would be adjusted by 1.6 km to create ballistic conditions for Russian spacecraft’s flight with the help of the engines of the Progress MS-10 cargo spaceship. More (Source: TASS - Feb 27)
PRIVATE CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ENDS MISSION WITH FIERY DEATH IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - The Cygnus cargo spacecraft completed its latest resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA today (Feb. 25) with a death dive into Earth's atmosphere. The robotic Cygnus vessel — named "S.S. John Young" after the late commander of NASA's Apollo 16 moon mission — launched in November atop an Antares rocket and delivered about 7,400 lbs. (3,350 kilograms) of supplies and scientific gear to the orbiting lab. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 26)
NASA, SPACEX CLEAR CREW DRAGON FOR CRITICAL MARCH 2 TEST FLIGHT - NASA managers held a flight readiness review Friday and cleared SpaceX to press ahead with work to ready a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon commercial ferry ship for launch March 2 on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. The long-awaited mission is a critical milestone in NASA’s $6.8 billion Commercial Crew Program, intended to end the agency’s sole reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry U.S. and partner astronauts to and from the station in the wake of the space shuttle’s retirement eight years ago. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 25)
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY DEVELOPS CAMERA THAT COULD PREVENT SATELLITE COLLISIONS - World-first technology which can track objects in space in real time, even during the day, has been labelled a "game changer" by the Australian Air Force. The Astrosite, developed at Western Sydney University (WSU), could help prevent satellites located beyond the Earth's atmosphere smashing into each other. The design of the new camera was inspired by human biology, its creator Associate Professor Greg Cohen, said. More (Source: ABC Local - Feb 24)
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