DELTA 4 ROCKET LAUNCHES SPY SATELLITE INTO SPACE - Five days after a presumed spy satellite was lost following launch from Florida, another clandestine satellite, this one owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, was boosted into space Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Running a day late because of glitches with ground systems, the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket carrying the classified NROL-47 spacecraft lifted away from launch complex 6 at 2:11 p.m. PST (GMT-7; 5:11 p.m. EST) and quickly shot away to the south over the Pacific Ocean.   More
(Source: CBS News - Jan 13)

CHINA LAUNCHES LATEST BEIDOU-3M SATELLITE DUO - A new pair of navigation satellites were successfully launched by China on Thursday, using a Long March-3B/YZ-1. The launch of the Beidou-3M pair took place at around 23:18 UTC from the LC2 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province. It took over four hours to complete the mission. The launch was previously scheduled for 2017. However, this was delayed due to a partial launch failure with a previous launch of this rocket during the Zhongxing-9A (ChinaSat-9A) mission, which resulted in the satellite being lofted to a lower than planned orbit.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 12)

IMAGE: CHINA'S SPACE STATION TIANGONG-1 - This vivid image shows China's space station Tiangong-1 – the name means 'heavenly palace' – and was captured by French astrophotographer Alain Figer on 27 November 2017. It was taken from a ski area in the Hautes-Alpes region of southeast France as the station passed overhead near dusk. The station is seen at lower right as a white streak, resulting from the exposure of several seconds, just above the summit of the snowy peak of Eyssina (2837 m altitude). Several artefacts in the original have been removed.    More
(Source: Phys.org - Jan 12)

SPACE AGENCY SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES 100TH SATELLITE CARTOSAT-2, PM CONGRATULATES SCIENTISTS - India on Friday launched a polar rocket with 31 satellites, including three Indian and 28 of six other nations from its spaceport here. The 44.4-metre tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) roared into a clear sky after a perfect lift-off at 9.29 a.m. after a 28-hour countdown. The 320-tonne rocket will eject the satellites one-by-one and deploy them into the earth’s lower orbit about 17 minutes and 18 seconds after the lift-off.   More
(Source: Hindustan Times - Jan 12)

ULA SCRUBS DELTA IV LAUNCH WITH NROL-47 - United Launch Alliance has scrubbed a Delta IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, set to carry the classified NROL-47 mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff will now be attempted on Friday with the window opening at 21:00 UTC.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 12)

ISRO EYES ITS 100TH SATELLITE - India will launch ISRO's 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission on January 12 from Sriharikota, in a milestone event in the country's space history. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it was "back in the game" with the launch, the first Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission after the unsuccessful launch of the navigation satellite IRNSS-1H in August last. "The 31 spacecrafts, including weather observation Cartosat-2 series will be launched by PSLV-C40," ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) director M Annadurai said today.    More
(Source: Economic Times - Jan 11)

ULA DELTA IV LAUNCH WITH NROL-47 MOVED TO THURSDAY - United Launch Alliance will attempt to launch a Delta IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying out the classified NROL-47 mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff is now scheduled for Thursday, 13:00 local time (21:00 UTC), following a scrub due to unacceptable weather on Wednesday.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jan 10)

SECOND SUPERVIEW SATELLITE PAIR LAUNCHED FROM CHINA - A second satellite duo for Beijing Space View Technology successfully launched Tuesday atop a Long March 2D rocket, doubling the company’s high-resolution imaging capacity for sale on the global market. Burning a mixture of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants, the 134-f00t-tall (41-meter) Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan space center in northeastern China’s Shanxi province at 0324 GMT Tuesday (10:24 p.m. EST Monday), according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 10)

CLASSIFIED SATELLITE FELL INTO OCEAN AFTER SPACEX LAUNCH, OFFICIAL CONFIRMS - A highly classified satellite launched by SpaceX this weekend ended up plummeting into the Indian Ocean, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News. Following its launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Sunday night, the satellite, codenamed Zuma, failed to remain in orbit, the official said. Northrop Grumman, the defense contractor that manufactured the payload -- reportedly a billion-dollar spy satellite -- told ABC News its mission is classified and declined to comment on the loss of the satellite.    More
(Source: ABC News - Jan 10)

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