AN ARTIFICIAL 'SATURN'S RING' OF SATELLITES COULD SOON FILL THE SKY, ASTRONOMERS WARN - A bright "Saturn's ring" of satellites could circle the night sky if plans to launch a million data center spacecraft and tens of thousands of space mirrors come to pass. This ring, traversing the sky for hours after dusk and before dawn, would outshine every star and planet, and be visible from every spot on Earth. Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics at the University of Birmingham in, the U.K., told Space.com that the only way to accommodate the high number of data center constellations that have been proposed is to stack them above another in orbit above the boundary between day and night, creating an artificial "Saturn's Ring" of satellites around the planet.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 21)

SWEDEN READIES FIRST SAR SATELLITE LAUNCH, EYES MORE SPACECRAFT - Sweden aims to launch its first Iceye synthetic aperture radar before year-end as part of an accelerated push to field what is expected to be a growing fleet with Earth observation capabilities, says the Swedish Armed Forces' space chief. Sweden initially planned to field Earth observation capabilities in the 2030 timeframe, but pushed that up four years given the “severe security situation,” says Rear Adm. Anders Sundeman, who has the odd distinction of being the only admiral in the Swedish Air Force which oversees space issues in the military.   More
(Source: Aviation Week - Jul 20)

DIAMONDS AND 'CAB TO ORBIT': ROCKET AIMING TO TRANSFORM INDIA'S SPACE AMBITIONS TAKES OFF - What if launching a satellite was as easy as calling a cab? That's the vision behind an Indian private rocket company that achieved its first orbital launch on Saturday. Skyroot Aerospace, which recently became India's first space tech unicorn after reaching $1.1bn valuation, launched Vikram-1 from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) launch facility in Sriharikota in southern India.   More
(Source: BBC - Jul 19)

NASA INVITES MEDIA TO ROMAN SPACE TELESCOPE, CREW-13 LAUNCHES - Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the agency’s SpaceX Crew-13 missions, both targeting launch in the coming months. The Roman telescope is slated to launch no earlier than 7:20 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The observatory, named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, will have a deep, panoramic view of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 19)

TRUMP DECIMATED A SATELLITE PROGRAM THAT WOULD’VE VASTLY IMPROVED WILDFIRE SMOKE MONITORING - When Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the DOGE boys started snipping wires across DC, they took out critical programs like the government's premier climate research website and the hurricane-hunter aircraft gathering data on dangerous storms. While they were at it, the Trump administration also ripped up a project that would have vastly improved the country's ability to monitor wildfires. The GeoXO program was a project originally encompassing six satellites that would greatly improve the resolution available to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor atmospheric conditions like wildfire smoke, as well as weather events like lightning strikes, and climate observations such as color changes in the ocean's surface.   More
(Source: Yahoo - Jul 18)

STATION’S NEWEST TRIO ADJUSTS TO MISSION LIFE BEFORE NEXT CREW DEPARTURE - 10 crew members now occupy the International Space Station following the arrival of NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on Tuesday. The expanded Expedition 74 crew will stay that way until the end of the month when another three crewmates depart the orbital outpost after an eight-month space research mission.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 17)

POST-IGNITION ANOMALY CAUSES ABORT OF SPACEX’S STARSHIP FLIGHT 13 - SpaceX will have to wait debut its long-promised Starlink Version 3 satellites after an apparent engine issue forced a last second abort of the suborbital test mission The Starship Flight 13 mission will be the second launch of a third-generation Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and the second mission for the program this year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 17)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES FOR THE SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY - The Space Development Agency launched its third batch of operational satellites designed to improve secure communications between members of the U.S. military and its allies across the globe aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Thursday. The SDA’s constellation, the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), consists of a series of series of interconnected satellites with varying focuses, from missile tracking to navigation. The satellites launching on Thursday afternoon are part of the communications layer, referred to as the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 17)

LATEST ON THE GOES-19 SATELLITE OUTAGE - The primary satellite used to monitor weather disturbances across the United States and the Atlantic Basin is currently offline. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a statement Wednesday evening that the GOES-19 satellite experienced a major technical anomaly. The satellite unexpectedly entered a 'safehold' mode yesterday.   More
(Source: Yahoo - Jul 17)

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