SPACEX CARGO CAPSULE ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION WITH TONS OF SUPPLIES - A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule carrying nearly 3 tons of supplies and science gear has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day orbital chase. Astronauts aboard the ISS snagged the uncrewed Dragon today (April 4) at 6:40 a.m. EDT (1040 GMT) using the orbiting lab's huge Canadarm2 robotic arm. The cargo vehicle had launched Monday afternoon (April 2) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, on a contracted mission for NASA. That liftoff initiated the second mission for both the rocket's first stage and the Dragon. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 5)
THREE GAOFEN EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES LAUNCHED BY CHINA - China has launched its 10th space mission of the year, deploying three civilian-operated Earth observation satellites with cameras to help monitor natural disasters, survey natural resources and assist in infrastructure planning. The Earth-imaging satellites lifted off on top of a Long March 4C rocket at 0322 GMT on March 31 (11:22 p.m. EDT on March 30) from the Taiyuan space center in northern China’s Shanxi province, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 4)
SPACEX SUPPLY SHIP DEPARTS CAPE CANAVERAL FOR SPACE STATION - Hauling nearly three tons of supplies, hardware and experiments, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket shot into orbit Monday from Cape Canaveral, with a previously-flown Dragon cargo carrier riding a reused first stage booster to kick off a nearly two-day journey to the International Space Station. The commercial cargo delivery flight departed Cape Canaveral with a roar from the Falcon 9’s Merlin 1D main engines, producing 1.7 million pounds of thrust to dispatch the 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket toward the northeast over the Atlantic Ocean. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 4)
‘CRISIS MAY ARISE’: IS NORTH KOREA PREPARING CONTROVERSIAL SATELLITE LAUNCH? - As the White House and Pyongyang keep their lips sealed as to exactly when and where their respective leaders will meet, fears abound that North Korea will violate the spirit of the deal before it’s even sealed. According to a US government source who spoke with The Diplomat on condition of anonymity, North Korea shipped components associated with a new satellite launch vehicle to at least within the proximity of their Sanum-dong Missile Research and Development Facility around the turn of the year. According to the anonymous source, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the site in late December 2017, shortly before the movement. More (Source: Sputnik International - Apr 4)
INDIA LOSES CONTACT WITH NEW COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE JUST DAYS AFTER LAUNCH - India lost contact with a communications satellite only days after the country launched the craft into space, according to multiple media reports and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Recovery efforts are ongoing as India faces its second possible mission failure in less than a year. GSAT-6A initially launched as planned on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket Thursday (March 29) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, near the Bay of Bengal on India's southeast coast. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 4)
MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - A small spacecraft built for the Russian military lifted off Thursday on top of a modified Soyuz booster, beginning a mission to reportedly test a compact Earth-imaging platform that could be used on future spy satellites. The lightweight payload rode a Soyuz 2-1v rocket into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a space base around 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow. The Soyuz 2-1v rocket, a modified version of Russia’s venerable Soyuz rocket family, lifted off at 1738 GMT (1:38 p.m. EDT; 8:38 p.m. Moscow time) Thursday, according to a statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 3)
CHINA'S SPACE STATION WASN'T THE END. THREE MORE SATELLITES EXPECTED TO CRASH TO EARTH THIS WEEK - Tiangong 1, China’s fallen space station, is now in pieces somewhere on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, but it’s hardly the last spacecraft that will plunge to earth. In fact, by the end of the week, three more are expected to re-enter the atmosphere. Two pieces of space junk from Kazakhstan and one from India are headed home, part of the surprisingly regular amount of cosmic debris that falls to earth each year. The first could occur as early as tomorrow evening, according to Satview.org. More (Source: Fortune - Apr 3)
HOW WAS CHINA'S TIANGONG-1 SPACE STATION CRASH TRACKED SO ACCURATELY? - China's Tiangong-1 space lab burned up in the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean late last night (April 1), falling right in the middle of the window predicted by a number of organizations, including the U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC), the U.S.-based analysis group Aerospace Corp., the China National Space Administration and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. The last organization is an international group that consisted of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as the space agencies of 11 other nations. Space.com talked with Harvard-Smithsonian's Jonathan McDowell, who has been commenting on the school-bus-size station's uncontrolled descent and predictions throughout the deorbiting process, to understand how agencies tracked the tumbling space lab. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 3)
INDIAN SCIENTISTS LOSE CONTACT WITH SATELLITE - India's national space agency has lost contact with a satellite days after it was launched into orbit with much fanfare, authorities said Sunday (Apr 1). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost communication with the GSAT-6A satellite as it prepared to undertake its third and final orbiting manoeuvre on Saturday. "Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite," ISRO said in a statement. The satellite - an indigenous model weighing more than 2,000 kg - was designed to improve communications for the armed forces. More (Source: Channel NewsAsia - Apr 2)
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