LAUNCH OF JAPAN’S SEVENTH HTV SUPPLY SHIP RESET FOR SATURDAY - Japanese space officials have rescheduled the launch of an H-2B rocket and a space station-bound HTV supply ship for Saturday after halting a countdown last week due to a propulsion system problem and bypassing a launch opportunity Friday because of a poor weather forecast. Originally scheduled for Sept. 10, the resupply launch was postponed as a typhoon skirted Guam, home of a tracking station needed to receive telemetry from the H-2B rocket during its flight. Managers rolled the H-2B rocket out to its launch pad ahead of a launch attempt Sept. 14, but the launch team called off the liftoff after fueling the launcher to investigate a valve problem in the H-2B’s second stage, according to officials from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the rocket’s contractor.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 21)

EXPANSION OF CHINA’S BEIDOU SATELLITE FLEET CONTINUES WITH SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH - Another successful launch Wednesday carried two more Beidou satellites into orbit, continuing a string of missions to push China’s independent navigation network closer to global coverage and adding international search-and-rescue support to the program’s portfolio. The satellites climbed into space at the top of a Long March 3B rocket, which lifted off from the Xichang space center in southwest China’s Sichuan province at 1407 GMT (10:07 a.m. EDT), according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, or CALT, the state-owned builder of most of the country’s launchers.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 21)

JAPANESE CARGO SHIP GETS NEW LAUNCH DATE FOR SPACE STATION DELIVERY - Japan's space agency has delayed the launch of the Kounotori7 cargo ship to no earlier than Saturday, Sept. 21, at 1:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT/2:52 a.m. JST on Sept. 23) due to bad weather expected at the Tanegashima Space Center launch site. Our original preview story can be seen below. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has set a new launch date for its next uncrewed cargo ship bound for the International Space Station after more than a week of delays due to bad weather and technical issues.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 21)

FIRST SATELLITE FOR GPS III UPGRADES TO LAUNCH IN DECEMBER - Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force are preparing to launch the first of their constellation of advanced GPS III satellites in December, expected to be the most precise, reliable version of the system yet. While civilians and businesses around the world depend on GPS for everyday communications and navigation, the military requires constant location information transmitted through a system secure enough to be impenetrable to enemies. The new system is built for modern electronic warfare, officials say, which will protect it for all users.   More
(Source: UPI - Sep 21)

ORBITAL CLUSTER GLONASS NOW HAS 23 OPERATIONAL SATELLITES - Russia’s space satellite Glonass-M number 754 has been withdrawn from the orbital group, which now consists of 23 operational satellites, as follows from information available on the website of the information and analysis center of temporal, coordinate and navigation support. According to earlier reports, global coverage will require 24 operational GLONASS satellites, including 18 covering the territory of Russia. Thirteen of the 26 satellites in the cluster are beyond the warranty date.    More
(Source: TASS - Sep 20)

SATELLITE USES GIANT NET TO PRACTICE CAPTURING SPACE JUNK - A British satellite, designed to test out ways to clean up debris in space, just successfully ensnared a simulated piece of junk in orbit using a big net. On Sunday, September 16th, the vehicle, known as the RemoveDEBRIS satellite, deployed its onboard net, which then captured a nearby target probe that the vehicle had released a few seconds earlier. The demonstration shows that a simple idea like a net may be an effective way to clean up all the material orbiting Earth. The RemoveDEBRIS satellite is meant to try out numerous different methods for cleaning up space junk, which has become a growing problem ever since we started launching rockets into orbit.    More
(Source: The Verge - Sep 20)

NASA'S NEW PLANET HUNTING SATELLITE SHARES 'FIRST LIGHT' PHOTO OF SPACE - The hunt is on. If we're going to find life in the cosmos, it's a good idea to look for other planets. The Kepler telescope has done a fantastic job since launching in 2009, but with that workhorse satellite reaching the end of its life, it's time for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to take over. On Monday, NASA shared "first light" images of the southern sky beamed back to Earth from its new planet hunting satellite. "First light" is the astronomical term used to describe the first time a telescope acquires images.   More
(Source: CNET - Sep 19)

CHINA TO LAUNCH NEXT BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITE PAIR ON WEDNESDAY - China will launch the next pair of satellites for its Beidou navigation and positioning system on Wednesday, according to airspace closure notices. A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) filed last week indicates a window of 1358-1432 UTC (21:58-22:32 local, 9:58-10:32 Eastern) for a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province, southwest China. If the launch goes according to plan, the mission will see the 12th and 13th Beidou satellites put into orbit this year alone, with the country pushing to complete the system of 35 operational satellites in 2020.    More
(Source: GBTIMES - Sep 18)

BRITISH EARTH-IMAGING SATELLITES RIDE INDIAN ROCKET INTO ORBIT - Two British-built reconnaissance satellites, one designed to test new radar imaging technology and another to collect high-resolution optical imagery, arrived in orbit Sunday after a successful liftoff aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The PSLV lit its solid-fueled core stage as the countdown clock reached zero at the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s east coast. The first stage motor pushed the 144-foot-tall (44.4-meter) rocket, which flew in its least powerful variant with no strap-on boosters, away fro the Indian spaceport on the Bay of Bengal at 1638 GMT (12:38 p.m. EDT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 17)

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