GORGEOUS PHOTO SHOWS SPACE STATION CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON - The moon and International Space Station are two of the brightest objects in the night sky, so whenever they team up, it's bound to be spectacular. On Dec. 2, the Space Station passed over the face of the moon, showing off its pretty silhouette against the craters of Earth's only natural satellite. The station passed over Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania as a NASA photographer captured a timelapse of the orbiting space laboratory crossing over the moon's face from Earth's perspective. More (Source: Mashable - Dec 5)
LONG MARCH 2D SENDS YAOGAN WEIXING 31 SATELLITE ALOFT - Using a Long March 2D booster, China has successfully sent its newest Yaogan Weixing remote sensing satellite into orbit. The launch was conducted at 04:11 GMT on Sunday, December 3 (11:11 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 2), 2017, from the LC43 Launch Complex at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in China’s Gansu Province. The mission was originally scheduled for November, and the Long March 2D rocket was delivered to JSLC in mid-October. More (Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Dec 4)
US GENERAL: RUSSIA AND CHINA BUILDING SPACE WEAPONS TO TARGET US SATELLITES - A senior US general said Saturday that countries like Russia and China are actively building weapons that can target space-based US military assets like satellites. "They've been building weapons, testing weapons, building weapons to operate from the earth in space, jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secret," Gen. John Hyten, the head of US Strategic Command, told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. "They're building those capabilities to challenge the United States of America, to challenge our allies, and to change the balance of power in the world," added Hyten, who oversees all US military operations in space. "We cannot allow that to happen." More (Source: CNN - Dec 4)
SOYUZ ROCKET DELIVERS A MILITARY SATELLITE - The Russian military personnel in Plesetsk orbited an operational spacecraft for electronic intelligence, known as Lotos-S1 or 14S145. A part of the Liana constellation, the mission lifted off on a Soyuz-2-1b rocket on Dec. 2, 2017, or just four days after another Soyuz-2 rocket lifted an ill-fated mission from Vostochny spaceport. The Lotos-S1 No. 803 mission was previously planned for Oct. 25, 2017, but had to be postponed until the beginning of November and then until November 18, at the earliest, due to problems with the satellite. More (Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 3)
SPACEX WILL TRY TO LAUNCH ELON MUSK’S TESLA ROADSTER ON NEW HEAVY-LIFT ROCKET - SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk tweeted Friday that his red Tesla Roadster will head for deep space on the maiden flight of the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket as soon as next month, and do it to the tune of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” But it won’t make the trip on battery power. SpaceX’s Falcon rockets burn hydrocarbons for fuel, consuming a grade of highly refined kerosene called RP-1. The rockets’ Merlin engines burn the RP-1 kerosene mixed with super-cold liquid oxygen. More (Source: Spaceflight Now - Dec 2)
RUSSIAN MILITARY TO GO AHEAD WITH SOYUZ LAUNCH - The Russian military personnel in Plesetsk prepares to orbit an operational spacecraft for electronic intelligence, known as Lotos-S1 or 14S145. A part of the Liana constellation, the mission lifts off on a Soyuz-2-1b rocket on Dec. 2, 2017, or just four days after another Soyuz-2 rocket lifted an ill-fated mission from Vostochny spaceport. The Lotos-S1 No. 803 mission was previously planned for Oct. 25, 2017, but had to be postponed until the beginning of November and then until November 18, at the earliest, due to problems with the satellite. More (Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 2)
ORBITAL ATK SHIPS TARDY AL YAH 3 SATELLITE FOR JANUARY LAUNCH - Satellite manufacturer Orbital ATK on Nov. 28 shipped Yahsat’s long-awaited Al Yah 3 high-throughput satellite to French Guiana for an Ariane 5 launch now scheduled for January. The hybrid satellite, equipped with a chemical propulsion system to reach orbit and electric thrusters for station-keeping once in place, slipped almost a year past its initial completion date, a delay Orbital ATK attributed to Al Yah 3 being the first of its kind. More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 1)
RUSSIAN WEATHER SATELLITE AND 18 SECONDARY PAYLOADS LOST AFTER ROCKET FAILURE - A new Russian weather observatory and the first prototype for Telesat’s planned network of 100-plus broadband communications satellites in low Earth orbit were among 19 spacecraft lost after a Fregat rocket stage ran into trouble soon after liftoff aboard a Soyuz booster Tuesday. The Fregat rocket pack was supposed to place the 19 satellites into four different orbits Tuesday in a four-hour flight sequence following launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a new spaceport in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 30)
CHINA SAYS IT'S BUILDING A "GHOST IMAGING" SATELLITE TO DETECT STEALTH JETS - Chinese scientists claim they are working towards building an advanced spy satellite that could use something of a physics trick to spot stealth planes from space. This complex "ghost imaging" camera is the latest in a string of reportedly “game changing” developments in China to counter low-observable aircraft, all of which have significant limitations and face serious developmental challenges. On Nov. 26, 2017, the South China Morning Post reported that scientists at multiple research institutions were working on a ghost imaging sensor that would work on a satellite. More (Source: The Drive - Nov 30)
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