SPACEX LAUNCHES FIRST "BLOCK 5" FALCON 9 ROCKET - Running a day late because of a last-minute countdown glitch, an upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, a booster NASA is counting on to eventually launch astronauts to the space station, roared to life and shot away from the Kennedy Space Center on its maiden flight Friday carrying Bangladesh's first communications satellite into space. The booster's first stage, sporting redesigned landing legs, improved heat shield insulation, upgraded avionics and more powerful engines with crack-resistant turbine hardware, flipped around moments after falling away from the Falcon 9's second stage and flew itself back to an on-target landing on an offshore droneship.   More
(Source: CBS News - May 12)

THREE CUBESATS WITH AMATEUR RADIO PAYLOADS DEPLOYED FROM ISS - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced that three CubeSats carrying Amateur Radio payloads, including one with a V/U linear transponder, were deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on May 11 at around 1030 UTC. Irazu (Costa Rica) and 1KUNS-PF (Kenya) carry beacon/telemetry in the 70-centimeter Amateur Radio band, while UBAKUSAT (Turkey) carries an Amateur Radio linear transponder for SSB and CW, in addition to CW and telemetry beacons.    More
(Source: ARRL - May 11)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SATELLITE - As part of their high-resolution Earth observation project, China launched the Gaofen-5 hyperspectral imaging satellite. Designed and developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, it is expected to have an 8-year lifespan and will be used for comprehensive environmental monitoring. Launched on 9 May 2018 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province, it is the latest of 15 satellite launches that China has made this year.   More
(Source: OpenGov Asia - May 11)

KENYA'S FIRST LOCALLY MADE NANOSATELLITE WILL BE LAUNCHED FROM ISS IN MAY - The first ever Kenyan-made nanosatellite, a creation of the University of Nairobi and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will be deployed from the International Space Station on 11 May 2018 at about 1pm Kenyan time The University of Nairobi, in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), have developed a nanosatellite, an extremely small satellite in the shape of a 10 cm by 10 cm cube, with the volume of just one litre.   More
(Source: AllAfrica.com - May 11)

SPACE STATION DIGITAL AMATEUR TELEVISION SIGNAL NOT BEING SEEN ON THE GROUND - The signal from the digital amateur television (DATV) transmitter aboard the International Space Station (ISS) cannot be detected on the ground, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has reported. The unit indicates that it is functioning, however. So far, ARISS has been at a loss to pin down the problem. “A series of steps are currently being undertaken to try to diagnose the problem,” a May 10 announcement from ARISS said. “However, if an actual failure occurred, only a ground-based evaluation will fully diagnose the problem. The ARISS International team is working diligently to bring [the system] back to full operation as soon as practical.” The ISS DATV system is known variously as “HamVideo” and “HamTV.”   More
(Source: ARRL - May 11)

SPACEX SCRUBS LAUNCH OF LATEST FALCON 9 ROCKET, WILL TRY AGAIN FRIDAY - SpaceX has long touted reusability as the key to reducing launch costs, and eventually, making its way to the Red Planet. But so far, it has relaunched 11 of its workhorse Falcon 9 rockets, one time each. And it has taken at least several weeks to turn those around for the next launch. On Friday afternoon, the Hawthorne space company will debut the latest and final substantial upgrade to the Falcon 9 — the so-called Block 5 version — which the company says will be capable of being used 10 times, with minimal refurbishment.   More
(Source: Los Angeles Times - May 11)

SATELLITE PHOTOS SHOW HAWAII VOLCANO LEAKING LAVA, TOXIC GAS - New photos taken by a NASA satellite offer a unique perspective on the continuing eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, which since Thursday has destroyed dozens of homes and forced some 1,800 residents to flee the area. Taken on Sunday by an instrument aboard the space agency's Terra satellite, the two false-color photos show fissures along the volcano's East Rift Zone that are leaking lava and the toxic gas sulfur dioxide.   More
(Source: NBC News - May 9)

UNIVERSE’S COOLEST LAB SET TO OPEN UP QUANTUM WORLD - Quantum physicists are about to get their own playground in space. NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory, scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on 20 May, is set to be the coldest place in the known Universe. Researchers will use the lab to probe quantum phenomena that would be impossible to observe on Earth. The US$83-million mission will be used to study quantum mechanics on the macroscopic scale by making a state of matter known as a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC).   More
(Source: Nature - May 9)

FIRST LAUNCH OF ENHANCED VERSION OF SPACEX’S FALCON 9 SET FOR THURSDAY - The launch of Bangladesh’s first communications satellite on top of a new version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for Thursday, officials said Monday, after a data review following a hold-down engine firing last week. SpaceX confirmed the target launch date in a tweet Monday, and the launch window Thursday opens at 4:12 p.m. EDT (2012 GMT) and extends until 6:22 p.m. EDT (2222 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 9)

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