FIRST LUXURY HOTEL IN SPACE ANNOUNCED - Want to see 16 sunrises in one day? Float in zero gravity? Be one of the few to have gazed upon our home planet from space? In just four years' time, and for an astronomical $9.5 million dollars, it's claimed you can. What's being billed as the world's first luxury space hotel, Aurora Station, was announced Thursday at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California. Developed by US-based space technology start-up Orion Span, the fully modular space station will host six people at a time...   More
(Source: CNN - Apr 7)

LOOK UP – IT'S A SATELLITE! - I saw my first artificial satellite with my naked eyes during the summer of 1994. I was watching pieces of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact Jupiter from a small observatory with a college astronomy club when someone pointed up – away from the telescope – and said, "Look, it's a satellite!" Before then, I had never really thought much about whether or not satellites were visible without a telescope or binoculars. They are fun to spot, though, so ever since then, I point them out whenever I am at the telescopes for a public observing event.   More
(Source: Phys.org - Apr 7)

STARTUP ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR LOW-COST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION - A startup claims it will be able to place a single-module commercial space station into orbit by 2022, although the company faces multiple and significant technical and financial hurdles. Orion Span announced April 5 plans to develop what it calls the Aurora Station, a space station it says will be the “first luxury space hotel” in orbit. The company unveiled its plans at the Space 2.0 conference in San Jose, California. In an interview, Frank Bunger, chief executive of Orion Span, said he believes there’s a strong demand for orbital space tourism.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Apr 6)

THERE’S A SPEEDING MASS OF SPACE JUNK ORBITING EARTH, SMASHING INTO THINGS - Earlier this year, a single rocket launched from India flung 104 small satellites into space. A second Indian effort in June put another 30 into orbit, each roughly the size of a coffee can. In July, a Russian rocket scattered 72 more satellites around Earth, like pebbles strewn from a speeding car. These swarms of small satellites—hard to track and hard to dodge—increase the risk of collision for the world’s vital communication, navigation and defense satellites.    More
(Source: Wall Street Journal - Apr 6)

END OF MISSION FOR PICSAT - PicSat, launched January 12, carried an amateur radio FM transponder. Unfortunately following a loss of communications in March the team has had to announce the end of the mission. On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 20, 2018 PicSat suddenly fell silent, after two successful morning passes over Europe. Attempts to re-establish contact have failed, nothing has been heard from the satellite, no sign of life.    More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 6)

EUROPEAN ROCKET LOFTS COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES IN 1ST LAUNCH SINCE GLITCH - A European rocket bounced back from a minor January anomaly with a picture-perfect launch of two commercial communications satellites today (April 5). An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana today at 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT), successfully delivering the DSN-1/Superbird-8 and HYLAS 4 satellites to geostationary transfer orbit high above Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 6)

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)

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