WHAT ARE THE REAL PURPOSES OF PYONGYANG’S NEW SATELLITES? - A recent article about North Korea’s plans for two new satellites gained little attention beyond its immediate readership. But the article contains a wealth of intelligence about Pyongyang’s objectives if one looks for the real uses to which those satellites will likely be put. Firstly, it’s highly unlikely the satellites would have any commercial utility, nor would they provide data of value to agricultural or ecological planners. North Korea simply is not developed enough to make use of such information.   More
(Source: Asia Times - Dec 21)

SOVIET SPY SATELLITE DISAPPEARS ABOVE SOUTH PACIFIC, 35 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH - Somewhere near the western coastline of South America, a Soviet military listening satellite has reportedly succumbed to Earth’s pull and vanished from orbit more than 30 years since it first launched. The Tselina-type spacecraft likely decayed over the weekend near Chile, several satellite tracking websites show, and popular tracker N2YO says the exact date was Sunday.    More
(Source: Newsweek - Dec 21)

NOAA’S GOES-16 WEATHER SATELLITE DECLARED OPERATIONAL - An upgraded NOAA weather satellite has entered service after a year of checkouts to provide critical, rapidly-refreshed imagery to forecasters in time for next year’s severe storm and hurricane seasons in the United States and the Atlantic Ocean. NOAA announced Monday that the GOES-16 spacecraft began regular weather observations after ground controllers maneuvered the satellite to its new operating position in geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator at 75.2 degrees west longitude.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 21)

SOYUZ WITH THREE-MAN CREW DOCKS WITH SPACE STATION - A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian commander, a NASA flight engineer and a Japanese physician-astronaut docked with the International Space Station early Tuesday, capping a smooth two-day rendezvous to boost the lab’s crew back to six. With Soyuz MS-07 commander Anton Shkaplerov monitoring the final stages of an automated approach, the nose of the ferry ship engaged the docking mechanism in the Earth-facing Rassvet module at 3:39 a.m. EST (GMT-5). A few moments later, hooks and latches engaged, pulling the spacecraft firmly into place.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 20)

SATELLITE ‘LICENSE PLATES’ COULD PREVENT A DISASTER IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - Space may look vast, but it’s actually pretty crowded near Earth. As of a couple of years ago, more than 1,300 active satellites orbited Earth, in addition to tens of thousands of dead satellites, discarded rockets and other bits and pieces that have accumulated in space in the 60 years since Sputnik, ranging in size from softballs to school buses. When we turn on a new radar in a few years that can see even smaller pieces, we are going to see millions of them.   More
(Source: Discover Magazine - Dec 19)

ADVANCED SATELLITE TRACKS AIR POLLUTION IN EXTRAORDINARY DETAIL - A new Earth-observing satellite called Sentinel-5P carries an advanced atmosphere-monitoring instrument that can scan Earth at a higher resolution than any other such instrument in orbit. The novel multispectral imaging spectrometer aboard the spacecraft, which is operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), reveals pollutants in our planet’s atmosphere with unprecedented granularity, according to the agency. Sentinel 5P can track gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, methane, and carbon dioxide that are important to air quality and climate.   More
(Source: Eos - Dec 19)

NEW CREW ARRIVING EARLY TUESDAY TO JOIN THE STATION - The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA’s Scott Tingle, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is scheduled to dock to the International Space Station’s Rassvet module at 3:43 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 19. Coverage of docking will begin at 3 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website, followed at 5 a.m. for coverage of the opening of hatches between the spacecraft and station, expected to occur at approximately 6:35 a.m. The arrival of Tingle, Shkaplerov and Kanai will restore the station’s crew complement to six.   More
(Source: NASA - Dec 19)

RECYCLED SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE MAKES 2ND DELIVERY TO SPACE STATION - A used SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station for the second time Sunday (Dec. 17), delivering more than 2 tons of NASA supplies just in time for Christmas. The uncrewed Dragon capsule was captured by astronauts using the space station's robotic arm at 5:57 a.m. EST (1057 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 252 miles (405 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and Papua New Guinea.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 18)

SOYUZ MS-07 MANNED SPACECRAFT WITH NEW ISS CREW LAUNCHED FROM BAIKONUR - A Russian Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-07 manned spacecraft lifted off on Sunday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan to deliver the crew of Expedition 54/55 to the International Space Station (ISS), a Sputnik correspondent reported from a launch site. The rocket has launched from the pad, Yuri Gagarin used for the first journey to space in the history of humankind.   More
(Source: Sputnik US - Dec 17)

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