DEBRIS: THE PLASTIC OF THE SKY - Over recent months, there has been a sudden wave of public awareness relating to the massive and growing problem of plastic in our seas. Mainly thanks to a remarkable BBC documentary featuring Sir David Attenborough highlighting the problem and the ensuing awareness campaigns, plus, the advent of alternatives to plastic. When you think about it, the same analogy can be applied to space with different effects. Our increased dependency on space capabilities demands an understanding of the associated vulnerabilities in what has become an increasingly congested Earth-orbiting space environment.   More
(Source: Via Satellite - Apr 16)

ALTA DEVICES SOLAR ON UPCOMING SATELLITE LAUNCH - This week, the NG-11 mission will launch from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. This spacecraft will deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and transport 60 small satellites, called ThinSats, into space. These satellites are powered by Alta Devices gallium arsenide solar cells and will carry various electromagnetic, radiation and inertial sensors for scientific analysis of the atmosphere.   More
(Source: Associated Press - Apr 16)

DIWATA-2 DESIGNATED PHILIPPINES-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) - On October 29, 2018, the Diwata-2 microsatellite was launched on a H-IIA launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan. Diwata-2 was developed by the University of the Philippines Dillman (UPD) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) under the PHL-Microsat program (now succeeded by the STAMINA4Space program), and in cooperation with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University.    More
(Source: AMSAT - Apr 14)

WORLD’S LARGEST PLANE, DESIGNED TO CARRY SATELLITE-LOADED ROCKETS, TAKES OFF FOR 1ST TEST FLIGHT - After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined mega jet with the wingspan of an American football field flew Saturday morning for the first time. “We finally did it,” said Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd at a news conference from the hangar at Mojave Air & Space Port. “It was an emotional moment to watch this bird take flight.” Stratolaunch, the company founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, conducted the first test flight of the world’s largest plane.   More
(Source: KTLA - Apr 14)

UNIVERSITIES TO PROVIDE PAYLOADS FOR ISS LAUNCH ON WEDNESDAY - A team of students and faculty from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science is contributing to Wednesday’s launch of the Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility. UVA Engineering students developed a small satellite that will join other satellites, created by Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University, as part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation, a Virginia Space Grant Consortium project. The CubeSats are designed to take measurements that will help researchers across the country better understand the effects of atmospheric drag on spacecraft and debris that orbit Earth.   More
(Source: Shore Daily News - Apr 14)

AUSTRALIAN CUBESAT TO USE 76 GHZ - The IARU Satellite Coordination Panel has announced the amateur radio frequencies for the Australian 76 GHz CubeSat CUAVA-1 that is expected to launch in July 2019. CUAVA-1 is a 3U CubeSat and the first CubeSat project of the new ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and their Applications (CUAVA), whose primary aim is the education and training of people, mostly PhD students, for the space sector.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 13)

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CARRIES TECHNOLOGY, SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS ON MISSION TO SPACE STATION - A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft scheduled to liftoff on April 17 carries supplies and scientific experiments to the International Space Station. It uses a new late load capability that allows time-sensitive experiments to be loaded just 24 hours before liftoff. Previously, all cargo had to be loaded about four days prior to launch, creating challenges for some types of experiments. The launch on the company's Antares rocket departs from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Apr 13)

NASA LAUNCH TO HELP STUDY HEALTH, CARRY VIRGINIA STUDENTS' SATELLITES - Officials say the next launch from Virginia's spaceport to the International Space Station will help with more than 40 scientific investigations including into Alzheimer's, hearts, atmospheric carbon dioxide and free-flying robots. News outlets report Northrop Grumman's commercial resupply mission for NASA will lift off Wednesday afternoon from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. A rocket will take an unmanned spacecraft with about 7,500 pounds of payload (3,400 kilograms) to the ISS.   More
(Source: WHSV - Apr 13)

NEW VIDEO OF INTELSAT 29E SATELLITE REVEALS DRAMATIC “ANOMALY” - After another satellite went out of service in geostationary orbit this week, at least temporarily, new data now suggests the spacecraft may not be recoverable. On Wednesday, the satellite operator Intelsat acknowledged a "service outage" on its Intelsat 29e satellite, which had affected maritime, aeronautical, and wireless operator customers in Latin America, the Caribbean, and North Atlantic. During the incident on Sunday, April 7, the spacecraft's propulsion system "experienced damage that caused a leak of the propellant on board the satellite," Intelsat said. At that time, Intelsat was periodically losing communication with the satellite, but the company was working with its manufacturer, Boeing, to restore the connection.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Apr 13)

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