BRITAIN WANTS TO REMAIN WITH COPERNICUS AFTER BREXIT - Britain wants to remain a part of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation satellite program even after the country exits the EU. Greg Clark, business secretary in the British government, said this week that “we want our companies and universities to continue participating in key EU space programs” such as Copernicus. Such participation would have to be negotiated as part of the U.K.’s Brexit talks with the EU. The comments came at an event to mark the completion of the latest Copernicus satellite, Sentinel-5P, at an Airbus factory in the U.K.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 23)

SOYUZ LIFTOFF GLIMPSED BY ORBITING OBSERVER AND LAUNCH PAD CAMERAS - The launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket July 14 with more than 70 satellites was captured in multiple views from a sharp-eyed orbiting nanosatellite and cameras positioned around the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, released a video clip containing imagery of last week’s blastoff from several cameras placed around Launch Pad No. 31 at Baikonur, where the Soyuz rocket soared into space at 0636 GMT (2:36 a.m. EDT; 12:36 p.m. Baikonur time) July 14.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 22)

GERMANY’S LONG-AWAITED HEINRICH HERTZ SATELLITE NOW EXPECTED TO LAUNCH IN 2021 - Germany’s space agency, DLR, signed a delayed but long-expected contract with Bremen-based satellite manufacturer OHB Systems for an experimental telecommunications satellite that will be used in part by the Bundeswehr, Germany’s Federal Armed Forces. The 310.5 million euro ($362.2 million) contract for the production and launch of the satellite, known as Heinrich Hertz, follows an 11 million euro contract to OHB in 2011, at which point the satellite was scheduled to launch in 2016. DLR and OHB said in June that they now anticipate launching the satellite in 2021. In a July 20 interview with SpaceNews, Gerd Gruppe, a member of the DLR executive board, attributed the five-year delay in part to the mission concept changing during the early planning phase.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 22)

GOOGLE MAPS ADDS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The International Space Station has become the first "off planet" addition to Google Maps' Street View facility. Astronauts helped capture 360-degree panoramas of the insides of the ISS modules, as well as views down to the Earth below. Some of the photography features pop-up text descriptions, marking the first time such annotations have appeared on the Maps platform. This is not the first time 360-degree imagery has been captured beyond Earth.   More
(Source: BBC News - Jul 21)

THE BREATHTAKING MOMENT AN ORBITING SATELLITE SPOTS A SOYUZ ROCKET BLASTING OFF FROM RUSSIA - A Dove satellite has captured the breathtaking moment a Soyuz rocket blasted off from Russia to deliver 48 new satellites to orbit. The rocket carried Planet Labs’ fleet of Flock 2K satellites, to join the ever-growing ‘Dove constellation’ monitoring Earth from miles above. Once they’d determined a satellite was in position to see the launch, the team pointed it in the right direction and captured one image per second, before meticulously stitching the still frames together for the ‘perfect shot from space.’    More
(Source: Daily Mail - Jul 21)

UK-BUILT POLLUTION MONITORING SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH - Last year, the European Space Agency launched the Trace Gas Orbiter to Mars. It is designed to look for methane – a key tracer of life – to determine if Martian microbes are present on the red planet. Now, ESA is preparing to launch another spacecraft to look at methane on another planet: our own. The UK-built Sentinel-5P, a pollution monitoring satellite, is ready to begin its journey from Airbus Defence and Space, Stevenage, to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, where it will lift off in late September/early October.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Jul 21)

SIERRA NEVADA’S DREAM CHASER ON THE MOVE IN CALIFORNIA - An atmospheric test model of Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser spacecraft, a cargo carrier for the International Space Station that will take off on top of an Atlas 5 rocket and land on a runway, is undergoing braking and steering checks in California ahead of a flight test later this year, the company said Monday. The full-scale Dream Chaser is pulled behind a tow vehicle for the ground tests now underway, reaching speeds fast enough to gauge the craft’s braking performance and guidance, navigation and control systems.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 20)

SPACEX CHIEF SAYS 1ST LAUNCH OF BIG NEW ROCKET WILL BE RISKY - SpaceX's chief said Wednesday that the first launch of its big new rocket is risky and stands "a real good chance" of failure. Founder Elon Musk told a space station research conference Wednesday that he wants to set realistic expectations for the flight later this year from Cape Canaveral. The Falcon Heavy will have three boosters instead of one, and 27 engines instead of nine, all of which must ignite simultaneously. No one will be aboard the initial flights. When it comes time to add people, Musk said, "no question, whoever's on the first flight, brave." SpaceX plans to fly two paying customers to the moon late next year, using a Falcon Heavy.   More
(Source: ABC News - Jul 20)

THIS NEW SATELLITE IS THE BRIGHTEST IN THE SKY - If you look up tonight, you might see a new light in the sky. The new Russian satellite Mayak—meaning "lighthouse"—was launched into orbit on Friday. Mayak wears a reflective surface that makes it the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon. Mayak is a small cubesat, only measuring a few inches across. It contains a large reflective membrane that was stretched out in the shape of a pyramid almost 10 feet on each side. This pyramid catches the sunlight and sends it toward Earth, making the Mayak one of the brightest objects in orbit.   More
(Source: Popular Mechanics - Jul 19)

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