SOYUZ BRINGS TWO COSMONAUTS, NASA ASTRONAUT BACK TO EARTH AFTER RECORD-SETTING MISSION - Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, now the world’s most experienced spaceman, first-time flier Nikolai Chub and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth Monday, closing out a record-setting mission with a picture-perfect landing in Kazakhstan. With the Soyuz crew back home, NASA and SpaceX are gearing up to launch astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov to the station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule on Thursday, weather permitting. Liftoff from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is targeted for 2:05 p.m. EDT.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 24)

SPACEX'S CREW-9 ASTRONAUT FLIGHT FOR NASA LAUNCHES THIS WEEK. HERE'S HOW IT TURNED INTO A RESCUE MISSION - This week, NASA is sending up a rescue mission to the International Space Station. On Thursday (Sept. 26), NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia's space agency Roscosmos will launch to the International space Station (ISS) on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission. Two other NASA astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, both mission specialists, were supposed to be aboard as well.    More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 23)

CHINA LAUNCHES 4 TIANQI CONSTELLATION SATELLITES INTO SPACE - China launched four new satellites for the Tianqi constellation into space, state media reported on Saturday. A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) carrier rocket, carrying the four satellites named Tianqi 29-32, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan province on Friday, the CGTN broadcaster said.   More
(Source: Anadolu Ajansı - Sep 22)

ELECTRON LAUNCHES SECOND SET OF KINéIS SATELLITES - An Electron launched a second set of satellites for French startup Kinéis Sept. 20, putting that company on track to begin offering Internet of Things services. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 7:01 p.m. Eastern. The five satellites on board were deployed into sun-synchronous orbits at an altitude of 643 kilometers a little more than an hour later. The launch is the second of five that Kinéis procured from Rocket Lab in 2021, after one in June. The five launches will deploy a 25-satellite constellation that Kinéis will use to provide IoT services globally.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 22)

2 RUSSIANS SET RECORD FOR LONGEST SINGLE STAY ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Two Russians on Friday set a record for the longest continuous stay on the International Space Station, according to Russia's space agency. Roscosmos said Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub broke the old record of 370 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes, which was set in September 2023 by Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin and American Francisco Rubio. Chub and Kononenko will add several days to their total before their scheduled return to Earth on Monday.   More
(Source: Yahoo - Sep 22)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 20 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE - SpaceX sent 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit on a Friday morning Falcon 9 rocket departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Onboard the Starlink 9-17 mission were 13 satellites that include the Direct to Cell capability. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) happened at 6:50 a.m. PDT (9:50 a.m. EDT, 1350 UTC). Deployment of the satellites was confirmed by SpaceX shortly before 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC)   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 21)

STARLINK SATELLITES ARE BLINDING ASTRONOMERS' VIEW OF SPACE - Efforts to study the universe are being hindered by radio waves emitted from the Starlink's extensive satellite network, according to a new study. The Starlink "constellation" consists of more than 6,300 working satellites orbiting the planet at 550km, accounting for more than half of all satellites surrounding Earth. All those satellites create radio "noise" — known as unintended electromagnetic radiation, or UEMR.   More
(Source: DW - Sep 21)

CHINA LAUNCHES TWO BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITES - China on Thursday launched two new satellites for the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The two satellites, the 59th and 60th satellites of the BeiDou family, were launched at 9:14 a.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket.   More
(Source: gov.cn - Sep 20)

NASA‘S ACS3 SATELLITE, BUILT BY NANOAVIONICS, SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOYS SOLAR SAIL - Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center test deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System’s solar sail. The unfurled solar sail is approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) on a side. Since solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to efficiently generate thrust. Photo of the sail is courtesy of NASA.   More
(Source: SatNews - Sep 20)

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