FCC FINES SWARM $900,000 FOR UNAUTHORIZED SATELLITE LAUNCH - Swarm Technologies Inc will pay a $900,000 fine for launching and operating four small experimental communications satellites that risked “satellite collisions” and threatened “critical commercial and government satellite operations,” the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday. The California-based start-up founded by former Google and Apple engineers in 2016 also agreed to enhanced FCC oversight and a requirement of pre-launch notices to the FCC for three years.    More
(Source: Reuters - Dec 22)

SOYUZ CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER A MEMORABLE 6 MONTHS IN SPACE - Three space station crewmembers returned to Earth today (Dec. 20) after a remarkably eventful stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, German astronaut Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev safely touched down on the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan at 12:02 a.m. EST (0502 GMT), one minute ahead of schedule. The trio spent a total of 197 days in space working as part of Expeditions 56 and 57.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 21)

NEW AMATEUR RADIO PACKET GEAR AWAITS UNPACKING, INSTALLATION ON SPACE STATION - New Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet equipment awaits unpacking and installation on board the station after arriving in November as part of the cargo transported via a Russian 71P Progress resupply vehicle. The new packet module for NA1SS will replace the current packet gear, which has been intermittent over the past year. “With the arrival of Progress complete, the crew has to find free time unpack Progress, uninstall the intermittent module, and then set up and test the replacement packet module,” explained Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, senior education manager of the ISS National Laboratory (CASIS), an ARISS sponsor.   More
(Source: ARRL - Dec 20)

NASA APPROVES SPACE PLANE FOR FUTURE MISSIONS TO THE ISS - A miniature space plane designed to take cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) has been approved by NASA to begin production, with a possible first flight in late 2020. Called the Dream Chaser, the vehicle is being built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) from Sparks, Nevada as part of a NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contract. Yesterday, Tuesday December 18, SNC revealed their spacecraft had passed a key review, and development could now move forward in earnest.   More
(Source: Forbes - Dec 20)

THREE SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS CLOSE OUT 196-DAY MISSION - Eight days after a dramatic spacewalk to inspect the site of a leak in the hull of his Soyuz ferry ship, Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, German flight engineer Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor geared up to depart the International Space Station Wednesday for a fiery plunge back to Earth. The flight plan called for the crew to board the Soyuz MS-09/55S spacecraft and seal the hatch around 5:20 p.m. EST, undocking from the space station's Earth-facing Rassvet module at 8:40 p.m.   More
(Source: CBS News - Dec 20)

ARIANESPACE SOYUZ ST-A LAUNCHES WITH CSO-1 - Arianespace conducted its final launch of 2018 on Wednesday, following a scrub – due to strong winds at the launch site – on Tuesday. The launch used a Soyuz rocket to deploy a high-resolution imaging satellite for the French military. Soyuz lifted off from the Centre Spatial Guyanais – near Kourou, French Guiana. Wednesday launch deployed CSO-1, the first of three satellites that will form the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO), or Optical Space Component. These spacecraft will serve the French military, replacing the earlier Helios reconnaissance satellites. To develop the constellation, France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA – Directorate General of Armaments) has entered into a partnership with the national space agency, CNES.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 19)

INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM CLOSES OUT YEAR WITH LAUNCH OF UPGRADED GSLV - An upgraded Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle carrying more fuel and standing taller than earlier GSLV variants took off Wednesday from an Indian spaceport and delivered a new communications satellite to orbit for the Indian Air Force. The GSLV Mk.2 rocket fired into space from the Satish Dhawan Space Center with nearly 1.8 million pounds of thrust at 1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. EST; 4:10 p.m. Indian Standard Time), soaring into a clear afternoon sky at the spaceport, located on India’s southeastern coast just north of Chennai.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 19)

IN ISRO'S YEAR-ENDER, "ANGRY BIRD" SATELLITE SET FOR LIFT-OFF: 10 POINTS - A communications satellite that will help connect all assets of the Indian Air Force and work as a force multiplier, will be the 17th mission and last launch of Indian space agency ISRO for the year 2018. The long-awaited GSAT-7A, which would take-off from Sriharikota this evening, will connect all IAF assets like planes, air-borne early warning control platforms, drones and ground stations, building a centralised network. Along with GSAT-7 and GSAT-6, this new satellite, dubbed the "Indian Angry Bird", will form the band of communications satellite for use of Indian military.    More
(Source: NDTV - Dec 19)

SPACEX AND BLUE ORIGIN SCRUB ROCKET LAUNCHES, DASHING HOPES OF A 4-LAUNCH DAY - Weather and other delays marred what had been anticipated as a banner day for space launches Tuesday, as both SpaceX and Blue Origin were forced to postpone launches that had been scheduled to take place within minutes of each other. Both companies say they will look at moving their launches to Wednesday morning. Blue Origin says its launch was scrubbed due to what the company calls a "ground infrastructure issue." Blue Origin says the rocket remains ready. SpaceX says an abort order was triggered by the flight computer onboard the Falcon 9 rocket. Paired with an earlier delay due to unfavorable upper-level winds, the slowdown pushed the rocket past its launch window.   More
(Source: NPR - Dec 19)

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