WATCH INDIA LAUNCH 2 SATELLITES ON A SPACE DOCKING TEST FLIGHT ON DEC. 30 - India will launch an ambitious space docking test flight on Monday (Dec. 30) that could set the stage for a future mission to the moon. The India Space Research Organisation will launch the two small satellites of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) atop an Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on Monday. Liftoff is set for 11:30 a.m. EST (10 p.m. IST, 1628 GMT) from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 4 ASTRANIS SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - Following a rare pad abort on Dec. 21, SpaceX launched four satellites to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at midnight on Sunday morning. Prior to the mission moving forward, the company had to swap the first stage booster for another. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) happened at 12 a.m. EST (0500 UTC) on Sunday, Dec. 29. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES FINAL 2024 MISSION FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX completed its first of three planned Falcon 9 launches before the end of year. The trio began with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 11-3 mission added another 22 V2 Mini satellites to the megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) happened at 5:58:30 p.m. PST (8:58:30 p.m. EST, 0158:30 UTC). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 29)
WATCH SPACEX ATTEMPT TO LAUNCH 4 ASTRANIS SATELLITES FOR THE 2ND TIME TONIGHT AFTER ABORT - SpaceX will make a new attempt to launch a miniature fleet of communications satellites overnight tonight and you'll be able to watch it live online. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch four "MicroGEO" satellites for the company Astranis from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is set for 12 a.m. EST (0500 GMT) on Sunday. You can watch the launch on SpaceX's X account and mission page starting about 15 minutes before liftoff. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 29)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FINISHES CHALLENGING YEAR AS PLANS ARE MADE FOR ITS RETIREMENT - The International Space Station continues to act as humanity’s outpost in low-Earth orbit, a role that began at the turn of this century. However, the ISS is showing its age and plans are being advanced for its retirement around 2030. Several events on the Station in 2024 underlined just how the ISS program was dealing with several challenges. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 28)
CHINA BUILDS LARGE COMMERCIAL RADAR SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - The large-scale application of a Chinese commercial radar remote sensing constellation composed of 12 satellites began on Monday, according to PIESAT, a Beijing-based satellite firm. The announcement came after four PIESAT-2 satellites, which were launched into a 528-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit last week, were calibrated and successfully transmitted high-resolution images and data back to Earth. More (Source: Space Daily - Dec 28)
SPACECOIN DEPLOYS FIRST SATELLITE FOR DECENTRALIZED SPACE CONNECTIVITY - Spacecoin said it is successfully communicating with its recently launched debut connectivity satellite, designed to test technology for a decentralized space-based network shared by multiple investors. “We have established regular communication with the satellite,” Spacecoin founder Tae Oh said, following SpaceX’s Dec. 21 Falcon 9 rideshare mission to low Earth orbit. More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 28)
CHINA SUFFERS COMMERCIAL ROCKET FAILURE BUT SETS RECORD FOR ANNUAL LAUNCHES - A Chinese commercial Kinetica-1 solid rocket failed late Thursday, with the launch attempt setting a new domestic record for launches in a calendar year. The Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) solid rocket lifted off at 8:03 p.m. Eastern Dec. 26 (0103 UTC Dec. 27) from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Rocket operator CAS Space confirmed the failure hours after liftoff. More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 28)
AMAZING IMAGERY FROM THE GOES-16 SATELLITE SHOWS MAJOR WEATHER EVENTS IN 2024 - The Earth was ready for its close-up this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, or GOES-16 satellites, captured several spectacular weather events from hurricanes, supercell storms, wildfires and an amazing total solar eclipse. More (Source: USA Today - Dec 27)
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