IRAN CLAIMS LAUNCH OF SATELLITE-CARRYING ROCKET INTO SPACE - Iran successfully launched its most advanced satellite-carrying rocket into space, the country’s state media reported Thursday, in what is likely the most significant step yet for the launch vehicle. A confirmed launch of the “Simorgh” rocket would mark another step forward for the Islamic Republic’s young space program, but is likely to raise alarm among its adversaries, who fear the same technology could be used to produce long-range missiles. The U.S. State Department called the launch “provocative.”   More
(Source: Washington Post - Jul 27)

SMALLEST SATELLITE EVER PAVES WAY FOR PLANNED INTERSTELLAR FLEET - Breakthrough Starshot has taken the first step towards their grand plans to one day send spacecraft to Alpha Centauri. On June 23, the $100 million initiative to send light-propelled spacecraft to our nearest star sent the tiniest-ever satellites into orbit. An Indian rocket carried six of these miniature satellites, called Sprites, into space. Two of them are attached to the sides of other, larger satellites: the Latvian Venta satellite and the Italian Max Valier satellite. Once communications are established, the Max Valier satellite will release the other four Sprites to orbit on their own.   More
(Source: New Scientist - Jul 27)

MUSK SETS EXPECTATIONS LOW FOR MAIDEN FALCON HEAVY LAUNCH - When SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket finally takes off for the first time, a debut now scheduled this fall, there’s a good chance the commercial heavy-lifter will falter short of reaching orbit, company founder and chief designer Elon Musk said last week. The oft-delayed test flight of SpaceX’s largest rocket to date, and the most powerful present-day launcher, will take off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a storied seaside facility that served as the departure point for Apollo moon landing missions and most of the space shuttle’s trips into orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 27)

CHINA’S QUEST TO BECOME A SPACE SCIENCE SUPERPOWER - Time seems to move faster at the National Space Science Center on the outskirts of Beijing. Researchers are rushing around this brand-new compound of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in anticipation of the launch of the nation's first X-ray telescope. At mission control, a gigantic screen plays a looping video showcasing the country's major space milestones. Engineers focus intently on their computer screens while a state television crew orbits the room with cameras, collecting footage for a documentary about China's meteoric rise as a space power.    More
(Source: Nature - Jul 27)

NASA MIGHT PRIVATIZE ONE OF ITS GREAT OBSERVATORIES - Management of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope could be turned over to an academic institution or private operator in 2019 once the space agency’s funding for the observatory runs out, a senior NASA manager said this week. Launched in August 2003 on a planned five-year mission, the infrared observatory is getting farther from Earth as it circles the sun, complicating communications with the telescope. But the mission continues to make observations, yielding discoveries about worlds around other stars, faraway galaxies that populated the early universe, and planets and asteroids within our own solar system.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 26)

HISTORIC ISRAELI MINI-SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED WITH FRENCH COOPERATION - Israel’s first environmental satellite, named “Venus” – the major project of the Israel Space Agency and the French space agency CNES – will be launched from French Guinea at 4:58 a.m. on August 2. Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis called the upcoming launch an “important national event.” Israel, he said, is “known around the world for its boldness and innovation, which are expressed also in the technological developments of ‘Venus.’    More
(Source: The Jerusalem Post - Jul 26)

SPACE STATION TO PERFORM THREE ORBIT CHASE OF SOLAR ECLIPSE - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may have the best windows for viewing the Great American Eclipse as they photograph and record August’s astronomical event during three consecutive orbits. Soaring 255 miles above, the six person crew of Expedition 52 will have detailed observation objectives in place as they point cameras from the Cupola’s windows while they trek across North America once every 91 minutes. They will also be the first humans to witness this solar eclipse thanks to orbital mechanics.   More
(Source: Avgeekery - Jul 26)

BROKEN ANTENNA DELAYS LAUNCH OF NASA COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - NASA is postponing the launch of one of its communications satellites after an antenna on the vehicle was somehow damaged during mission preparations over a week ago. That satellite is the TDRS-M, for Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, and it was scheduled to launch on August 3rd from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on top of an Atlas V rocket made by the United Launch Alliance. But now, NASA, ULA, and Boeing — the manufacturer of the satellite — are trying to figure out a new time to launch the probe in August, so the satellite’s antenna can be replaced before then.   More
(Source: The Verge - Jul 25)

LAUNCH PREPS IN KAZAKHSTAN; CANCER THERAPIES RESEARCHED ON STATION - A new International Space Station crew is less than a week away from beginning a 4-1/2 month mission living and working in space. The trio from the United States, Russia and Italy is in Kazakhstan counting down to a Friday launch at 11:41 a.m. EDT inside the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft. Cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy will command the Soyuz vehicle during the six-hour, 19-minute ride from Earth to the station’s Rassvet module.    More
(Source: NASA - Jul 25)

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