CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES EARTH-IMAGING SATELLITE FOR VENEZUELA - A Chinese Long March 2D rocket launched Venezuela’s second Earth-observing surveillance satellite Monday, adding a new space-based reconnaissance asset the country’s government says it will use to aid security forces, emergency responders, farmers, and health professionals. The two-stage, 134-foot-tall (41-meter) Long March 2D booster took off at 0413 GMT (12:13 a.m. EDT) Monday from the remote Jiuquan space base in the Gobi Desert in northwest China, according to China Great Wall Industry Corp., the government-owned company chartered to sell Chinese rockets and satellites on the global market. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 10)
SPACEX LAUNCH ADDS ANOTHER 10 SATELLITES TO IRIDIUM NEXT FLEET - Ten more satellites for Iridium’s upgraded voice and data communications fleet rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into a nearly 400-mile-high orbit from California’s Central Coast Monday. A few minutes after liftoff, the booster’s first stage made a pinpoint landing on an offshore platform in the Pacific Ocean, adding to SpaceX’s string of successful rocket recoveries for refurbishment and reuse. The 10 French-designed, U.S.-built satellites deployed one-by-one from the Falcon 9’s second stage around an hour after launch. Live video from the launcher showed the spacecraft releasing from a specially-designed carrier module on the upper stage. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 10)
STARTLING IMAGES FROM SPACE SHOW SMOKE PLUME AND HEAT FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES - Fast-moving, destructive wildfires raced across parts of Napa and Sonoma County on Sunday night and Monday, fanned by strong winds and dry conditions. The fires exploded in size, with one, known as the Tubbs Fire, jumping from 200 acres on Sunday to 25,000 by Monday. According to the Associated Press, 1,500 structures have been destroyed by the blazes so far, making them collectively among the most destructive in state history. More (Source: Mashable - Oct 10)
POPE TO GET CLOSER TO HEAVENS WITH CALL TO SPACE STATION - Pope Francis will get closer to the heavens this month when he puts in a call to the International Space Station. The Vatican said on Monday the pope would make the call at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on October 26. It gave no further details, but Francis has supported the work of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which regularly brings together scientists from around the world to exchange views on topics such as climate change. The current six-member crew of the International Space Station is made up of three Americans, two Russians and one Italian. More (Source: Reuters - Oct 10)
AS SATELLITES GET SMALLER AND CHEAPER, SPACE PROGRAMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ARE GETTING BIGGER - The premise of After The Flare, a new space fantasy novel by Deji Bryce Olukotun, is that a solar flare has hit earth and destroyed electricity grids followed by devastating cyber attacks that paralyze all communication. This all sounds plausible until you learn the only functioning space program left on earth is supposed to be in Nigeria. Of course, the only reason space programs in sub Saharan African countries might seem unlikely is because there’s a common belief developing countries have more pressing priorities with everything from poverty and food security to disease and childhood mortality. More (Source: Quartz - Oct 9)
SPACEX ROCKET TO LAUNCH 10 SATELLITES EARLY MONDAY: HOW TO WATCH LIVE - The private spaceflight company SpaceX is scheduled to launch 10 communications satellites into low-Earth orbit early Monday (Oct. 9), and you can watch it live online. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 8:37 a.m. EDT (5:37 a.m. PDT/1237 GMT), carrying 10 satellites for Iridium Communications. A live webcast is expected to begin shortly before the opening of the launch window, and you can watch it on SpaceX's website, or at Space.com. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 9)
FAULTY TRANSMITTER DELAYS ATLAS V LAUNCH OF SPY SATELLITE FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - United Launch Alliance early Saturday waived off a third attempt to launch an Atlas V rocket and spy agency mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, citing trouble with a telemetry transmitter on the rocket. No now launch date had been announced as of early Saturday evening. "A new launch date will be released when it’s established," ULA said in a statement after the latest countdown was scrubbed around 1 a.m. More (Source: Florida Today - Oct 8)
LONG MARCH 2D TO DELIVER VENEZUELAN VRSS-2 EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - China is preparing for its second orbital mission after a three-month-long period with no launches. This time it will send a Long March 2D rocket into space carrying an Earth-observation satellite for Venezuela. Liftoff is planned for sometime between 12:05 a.m. and 12:33 a.m. EDT (04:05 and 04:33 GMT) Oct. 9, 2017, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gansu Province. More (Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Oct 8)
EUROPEAN SATELLITE SPLASHDOWN IN CANADIAN ARCTIC PROBABLY TOXIC - Europe's space agency is defending plans to launch two satellites that would drop a rocket stage likely to contain highly toxic fuel in some of the most ecologically sensitive waters of the Canadian Arctic. Inuit have said those plans treat seas teeming with life as a garbage dump. But the agency said Friday that next week's launch will have little effect on the North Water Polynya between Baffin Island and Greenland. More (Source: CTV News - Oct 8)
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