NOAA DECLARES FIRST JPSS WEATHER SATELLITE OPERATIONAL - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced May 30 that its first next-generation polar-orbiting weather satellite is now fully operational as the government moves to procure additional satellites. NOAA said that the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) weather satellite, renamed NOAA-20 after its Nov. 18 launch, had completed six months of on-orbit checkout and is now fully operational. NOAA-20 is in the same orbit as the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, which had been serving as NOAA’s primary polar-orbiting weather satellite since 2014. While Suomi, launched in late 2011, continues to operate past its planned five-year lifetime, NOAA-20 entering service ends any concerns about a data gap.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 31)

INSIDE CHINA’S NEW SPACE STATION - China got the world's attention today by announcing the China Space Station (CSS), a new orbital station for the 2020s, will be open for international cooperation and experiments from researchers across the globe. Alongside this announcement, China also released an oft-overlooked handbook that details the CSS’s architecture and operation. Some of the contents has trickled out, but the nearly 30-page document contains among the best available info about what CSS will look like and how it'll work.   More
(Source: Popular Mechanics - May 30)

VIASAT TO START ASIA-PACIFIC VIASAT-3 SATELLITE THIS YEAR - Satellite operator Viasat is in discussions with manufacturers to procure its third high-capacity ViaSat-3 satellite, CEO Mark Dankberg said May 24. The satellite, which Viasat intends to order this year, will serve the Asia-Pacific region. Dankberg said designing such a satellite presents more difficult regulatory and geographic coverage challenges than the two ViaSat-3 satellites already under construction. One of those satellites, ViaSat-3 Americas, will serve North and South America. The other, ViaSat-3 EMEA, will serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - May 30)

NASA: 3 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS TO RETURN TO EARTH ON JUNE 3 - Three astronauts aboard the International Space Station are set to return to Earth on a Russian Soyuz spaceship on June 3, NASA has said. When the three crewmates land in Kazakhstan, about three-and-a-half hours after undocking, the trio will have spent 168 days in space and conducted one spacewalk each, the US space agency said in a blog post. The three homebound station crew member are NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. They will be replaced by three new Expedition 56-57 crew members who are scheduled to launch to space on June 6.   More
(Source: The Indian Express - May 29)

SPACEX PREPPING FALCON 9 TO LAUNCH SES-12 MISSION - Following the successful launch of a communications satellite on May 11, 2018, from Kennedy Space Center SLC-39A, SpaceX is scheduled to launch another communications satellite from Florida on May 31, 2018, this time from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s SLC-40. The customer is SES, a giant European communications conglomerate. If everything goes as planned, this will be the sixth launch of an SES satellite by SpaceX.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - May 29)

HAWAII'S ERUPTING VOLCANO LOOKS EVEN CRAZIER FROM SPACE AT NIGHT - A stunning image released by NASA shows what Kilauea, the volcano in Hawaii that has been erupting for three weeks, looks like from space. As the photo shows, Kilauea is not only visible from space — you can also see the lava spewing out of the volcano. Seven instruments aboard NASA ‘s International Space Station and partner satellites have been detecting active fissures, fires, ash and sulphur dioxide plume as well as the height and composition of volcanic plumes, a NASA release explains.   More
(Source: TIME - May 26)

NANORACKS LAUNCHES 15 CUBESATS, NEW COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, ON LATEST ISS CARGO RESUPPLY LAUNCH - Early this week Cygnus, the spacecraft from the ninth contracted resupply mission for Orbital ATK, berthed with the International Space Station carrying another satellite-filled NanoRacks mission. NanoRacks is pleased to bring two new commercial customers to the low-Earth orbit ecosystem, Analytical Space Inc. and EnduroSat, with each of the startups' first-ever CubeSats. This is the fifth mission in which NanoRacks is providing opportunities for CubeSat deployment from Cygnus after the vehicle departs from the station.   More
(Source: Space Daily - May 26)

ASTRONAUTS IN SPACE WILL BE WORKING THIS MEMORIAL DAY. HERE'S WHY - This year for Memorial Day, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station are celebrating and remembering those who've served the same way they do every year — by working. That's right — astronauts have to work on Memorial Day. The Expedition 55 crew — Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Cmdr. Anton Shkaplerov; Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai; and U.S. astronauts Ricky Arnold, Drew Feustel and Scott Tingle — will not be taking any days off this weekend, NASA spokesperson Dan Huot told Space.com.   More
(Source: Space.com - May 26)

UK WILL BUILD OWN SATELLITE SYSTEM IF FROZEN OUT OF EU'S GALILEO – CHANCELLOR - The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has warned that the UK will build its own satellite navigation system to rival the European Union’s €10bn (£9bn) Galileo project if Brussels carries out its threat to block access. The European commission has cited legal issues about sharing sensitive information with a non-member state to justify its decision to shut British firms out of the project. The EU has also said it will restrict access to encrypted signals from Galileo.   More
(Source: The Guardian - May 26)

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