WSJ: SPACEX NOT TO BLAME FOR 'ZUMA' SPY SATELLITE DISASTER - All eyes were on SpaceX back in January, when a Falcon 9 rocket launched a mysterious payload called Zuma into orbit. But soon after its supposed deployment, reports started coming in that Zuma hadn't fared well and the satellite had failed. Because the payload, from contractor Northrop Grumman, was classified, there wasn't much additional information, though many grumbled that SpaceX was at fault. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that government and industry experts are of the opinion that the failure was the fault of Northrop Grumman, not SpaceX.   More
(Source: Engadget - Apr 10)

RUSSIAN ISS SSTV EVENT TO CELEBRATE COSMONAUTICS DAY - ARISS Russia is planning a special Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event April 11-14 from the International Space Station in celebration of Cosmonautics Day. The transmissions are to begin on April 11 at 11:30 UT and run through April 14 ending at 18:20 UT. Supporting this event is a computer on the ISS Russian Segment, which stores images that are then transmitted to Earth using amateur radio, specifically the onboard Kenwood TM-D710E transceiver.   More
(Source: AMSAT UK - Apr 10)

ROCKET LAB PREPS FOR FIRST COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCH - Rocket Lab’s first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company’s privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data. The next Electron launch will loft two satellites owned by Spire Global and one for GeoOptics. Both companies are based in California, and are competitors in the market to gather weather and climate information with commercial spacecraft.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 8)

THIS SPACE JUNK REMOVAL EXPERIMENT WILL HARPOON & NET DEBRIS IN ORBIT - The first experiment designed to demonstrate active space-debris removal in orbit has just reached the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule. The RemoveDebris experiment, designed by a team led by the University of Surrey in the U.K. as part of a 15.2 million euro ($18.7 million), European Union (EU)-funded project, is about the size of a washing machine and weighs 100 kilograms (220 lbs.).   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 7)

FIRST LUXURY HOTEL IN SPACE ANNOUNCED - Want to see 16 sunrises in one day? Float in zero gravity? Be one of the few to have gazed upon our home planet from space? In just four years' time, and for an astronomical $9.5 million dollars, it's claimed you can. What's being billed as the world's first luxury space hotel, Aurora Station, was announced Thursday at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California. Developed by US-based space technology start-up Orion Span, the fully modular space station will host six people at a time...   More
(Source: CNN - Apr 7)

LOOK UP – IT'S A SATELLITE! - I saw my first artificial satellite with my naked eyes during the summer of 1994. I was watching pieces of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact Jupiter from a small observatory with a college astronomy club when someone pointed up – away from the telescope – and said, "Look, it's a satellite!" Before then, I had never really thought much about whether or not satellites were visible without a telescope or binoculars. They are fun to spot, though, so ever since then, I point them out whenever I am at the telescopes for a public observing event.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Apr 7)

STARTUP ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR LOW-COST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION - A startup claims it will be able to place a single-module commercial space station into orbit by 2022, although the company faces multiple and significant technical and financial hurdles. Orion Span announced April 5 plans to develop what it calls the Aurora Station, a space station it says will be the “first luxury space hotel” in orbit. The company unveiled its plans at the Space 2.0 conference in San Jose, California. In an interview, Frank Bunger, chief executive of Orion Span, said he believes there’s a strong demand for orbital space tourism.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 6)

THERE’S A SPEEDING MASS OF SPACE JUNK ORBITING EARTH, SMASHING INTO THINGS - Earlier this year, a single rocket launched from India flung 104 small satellites into space. A second Indian effort in June put another 30 into orbit, each roughly the size of a coffee can. In July, a Russian rocket scattered 72 more satellites around Earth, like pebbles strewn from a speeding car. These swarms of small satellites—hard to track and hard to dodge—increase the risk of collision for the world’s vital communication, navigation and defense satellites.    More
(Source: Wall Street Journal - Apr 6)

END OF MISSION FOR PICSAT - PicSat, launched January 12, carried an amateur radio FM transponder. Unfortunately following a loss of communications in March the team has had to announce the end of the mission. On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 20, 2018 PicSat suddenly fell silent, after two successful morning passes over Europe. Attempts to re-establish contact have failed, nothing has been heard from the satellite, no sign of life.    More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 6)

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