HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, EXPLORER 1! 1ST US SATELLITE LAUNCHED 60 YEARS AGO TODAY - On Jan. 31, 1958, the nation launched its first successful satellite — Explorer 1, which rode to Earth orbit atop a Jupiter-C rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Missile Annex (now called Cape Canaveral Air Force Station). We have firmly established our foothold in space," rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun, who led the team that designed the Jupiter-C, said shortly after Explorer 1 made it to space. "We will never give it up." The success of Explorer 1 soothed a lot of jangled nerves among the American political and military elite, who had recently endured three humbling space setbacks.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 1)

SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCHES LUXEMBOURG SATELLITE FOR NATO - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Wednesday carrying into orbit a Luxembourg-made communications satellite designed in part to expand NATO’s surveillance reach and its capability to deter cyber attacks on alliance members. The liftoff at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station followed a technical glitch that prompted a 24-hour flight delay. It marked the second rocket launch this year for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his privately owned Space Exploration Technologies.    More
(Source: Reuters - Feb 1)

NASA SPOTS SPECTACULAR ISS TRANSIT ACROSS THE FULL MOON - Plenty of people were out in the dark photographing the rare super blue blood moon, but NASA senior photographer Bill Ingalls captured an instant classic with a look at the International Space Station crossing in front of the full moon on Tuesday night Eastern. It takes a lot of skill and a bit of luck to get an image like this. The ISS travels at around 5 miles (8 kilometers) per second, so the window for a transit shot is short. Ingalls dialed in the focus perfectly to highlight both the craters and landscape of the moon with the space station in front.   More
(Source: CNET - Feb 1)

CHINA'S SIXTH LAUNCH IN 2018 AN EXPERIMENTAL SEISMO-ELECTROMAGNETIC PROBE AND MORE - China is set to launch an experimental seismo-electromagnetic probe on Friday from the Jiuquan launch centre, with small ESA and commercial satellites along for the ride. A Long March 2D rocket will carry the main and piggybacking payloads into low Earth orbit from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert, with launch anticipated to be around 15:50 local time (07:50 UTC). The launch will be China's sixth following a busy January, with the country planning a possible 40 launches for 2018.    More
(Source: SatNews Publishers - Jan 31)

SPACEX SCRUBS FALCON 9 LAUNCH TO REPLACE SECOND STAGE SENSOR - SpaceX’s launch director halted a countdown Tuesday to replace a sensor on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket set to blast off with the GovSat 1 communications craft, the product of a joint venture between the commercial satellite operator SES and the government of Luxembourg. The launch company plans another launch attempt Wednesday during a window opening at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) and extending until 6:46 p.m. EST (2346 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)

TIANHE: A LOOK AT THE CORE MODULE OF THE CHINESE SPACE STATION - Documentary footage released by China Central Television (CCTV) has provided a glimpse of the core module for the Chinese Space Station, which could be launched around late 2019. The Tianhe module is the first of three 20 metric tonne modules that will make up the Chinese Space Station (CSS), along with two experiment modules to be used for a range of science objectives.   More
(Source: GBTIMES - Jan 31)

LUXEMBOURG-BACKED TELECOM CRAFT SET FOR LAUNCH ON REUSED FALCON 9 ROCKET - A communications satellite developed in a public-private partnership between Luxembourg government and SES is set for launch Tuesday aboard a previously-flown SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Cape Canaveral, ready for a 15-year mission beaming encrypted, jam-resistant signals for security and military forces across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The GovSat 1 communications craft, manufactured by Orbital ATK, is heading for a high-altitude “supersynchronous” transfer orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles above Earth. The satellite will use its on-board engine to shift its orbit over the equator and slide into a perch in geostationary orbit at 21.5 degrees east longitude.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 30)

CHINA LAUNCHES FOURTH TRIO OF YAOGAN MILITARY SATELLITES SINCE SEPTEMBER - A fourth trio of Chinese Yaogan military satellites with secret missions launched Thursday aboard a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang space base in China’s Sichuan province. The spacecraft join nine others launched into similar 370-mile-high (600-kilometer) orbits on three previous Long March 2C flights from the Xichang spaceport Sept. 29, Nov. 24 and Dec. 25. The latest triplet of Yaogan 30 satellites lifted off at 0539 GMT (12:39 a.m. EST; 1:39 p.m. Beijing time) Thursday, Jan. 25, from the mountainous Xichang launch site in southwestern China.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 29)

ARIANE 5 LAUNCH "ANOMALY" STUDIED; SATELLITES OK - A European Ariane 5 rocket launched two communications satellites into the wrong orbit Thursday night, but both relay stations are healthy and should be able to use on-board thrusters to reach their intended operational orbits, officials said Friday. The Ariane 5 blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:20 p.m. ET Thursday evening carrying an SES communications satellite and another owned by Yahsat. The initial climb away to the east appeared normal and the first stage shut down and was discarded about nine minutes after liftoff.   More
(Source: CBS News - Jan 28)

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