TECHNICAL GLITCH AGAIN DELAYS 1ST COMMERCIAL LAUNCH OF ROCKET LAB'S ELECTRON BOOSTER - Rocket Lab's Electron small-satellite launcher will have to wait a bit longer to take to the skies on its first commercial flight. The 57-foot-tall (17 meters) Electron rocket was scheduled to lift off today (June 26) from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site, during a four-hour window that opened at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT and 12:30 p.m. local time on June 27). But Rocket Lab called the launch off at about 9:45 p.m. EDT (0145 GMT), citing a technical issue with a key engine part.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 27)

CHENNAI LADS TO SEND 'WORLD'S LIGHTEST' SATELLITE TO SPACE - Four city students build a satellite weighing 33.39 grams, probably the world’s lightest and cheapest Harikrishnan KG clutches the small box in his hand carefully. He nimbly opens it, revealing a concealed black cube, and props it on the table in front of us. It is just about double the size of the sugar cubes in the coffee shop we’re sitting in. But this isn’t just any trivial cube. It is a satellite.   More
(Source: The Hindu - Jun 27)

CHINA'S SPACE STATION GOT WEIRDLY CLOSE TO EARTH FOR A FEW DAYS AND THE GOVERNMENT ISN'T TALKING - China's Tiangong-2 space station just spent 10 days much closer to Earth than its usual orbit, a manoeuvre that seems to have baffled experts - and China's government isn't talking. From June 13, it dipped from its usual altitude of around 390 kilometres (242 miles) down to around 295 kilometres (183 miles), according to Harvard-Smithsonian astronomer Jonathan McDowell, and orbital information published by the US Strategic Command's Joint Force Space Component Command, reports Space News.   More
(Source: ScienceAlert - Jun 26)

ELECTRON ROCKET LAUNCH DELAYED TO TUESDAY - The launch has been delayed another day to wait for improved weather at Rocket Lab's launch site on New Zealand's North Island. "Forecast poor weather continues tomorrow, so we're going to take it as a rest day to give us wider windows later in the week. Currently targeting no earlier than 12:30 pm (00:30 UTC) Wednesday 27 June for launch," Rocket Lab tweeted.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 25)

INTERNATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY SATELLITE MARKS ITS TEN YEARS IN SPACE - Tracking the rise of global sea levels and initially designed for a mission that will suppose to last for a span of three to five years, the International Oceanography Satellite marks its ten years of operations this week in orbit. On Sunday, the Xinhua news agency reported that - Jason-2 satellite was launched in space on June 2008, on an US-European Ocean Surface Topography Mission. It is since then that the satellite has taken more than 47, 000 rounds of the Earth in its mission.    More
(Source: News Spaceflight - Jun 25)

GROUND ANTENNA PROBLEM SCRUBS ROCKET LAB’S FIRST COMMERCIAL LAUNCH - Problems with a downrange tracking station kept Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher on the ground in New Zealand Friday, U.S. time, and the company ordered a two-day delay to Sunday, allowing time to resolve the issues and wait for improved weather. The next launch attempt is planned during a four-hour window opening at 8:30 p.m. EDT Sunday (0030 GMT; 12:30 p.m. New Zealand time Monday).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 24)

CHINA APPEARS TO BE PREPARING TO DEORBIT ITS TIANGONG-2 SPACE LAB - China has lowered the orbit of its Tiangong-2 space lab, likely in preparation for deorbiting the orbital facility and thus averting a similar scenario to the uncontrolled re-entry of Tiangong-1 earlier this year. Tiangong-2 was launched in September 2016 to test advanced life support and refueling and resupply capabilities via the crewed Shenzhou-11 and uncrewed Tianzhou-1 cargo missions, in preparation for constructing a large, modular space station in low Earth orbit. Orbital information published by the U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Force Space Component Command, through the Joint Space Operations Center, indicates that Tiangong-2 has moved from an altitude of around 380 by 386 kilometers down to 292 by 297 kilometers.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 23)

1ST SATELLITE BUILT TO HARPOON SPACE JUNK FOR DISPOSAL BEGINS TEST FLIGHT - The first spacecraft to demonstrate active space debris-removal technologies — such as a harpoon, a net and a drag sail — in orbit has been released from the International Space Station to commence its mission. Astronauts at the space station sent the 100-kilogram (220 lbs.) RemoveDebris spacecraft off for its pioneering mission using Canadarm2, the 17.6-meter-long (57.7 feet) robotic arm used for servicing and capturing cargo ships.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 23)

IT'S BUSINESS TIME: ROCKET LAB PREPARES FOR LAUNCH OUT OF NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand-based Rocket Lab will on Saturday make another bid to send its first fully commercial payload into orbit. Since testing began, the company has put four satellites into orbit, and from June 23 has a fortnight to get its first fully-fledged business mission -- aptly named "It's Business Time" -- off the ground. Rocket Lab will open the launch window from June 23 through July 6, with launch attempts scheduled for daily four-hour slots, beginning at 12:30pm NZST. The company will open a live-stream 15 minutes before launch, viewable on a launch day here and via Rocket Lab's YouTube channel.   More
(Source: ZDNet - Jun 22)

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