CHINESE ROCKET LAUNCH FAILS AFTER LIFTOFF - The second launch of China's new-generation Long March-5 carrier rocket failed Sunday -- dealing a blow to the country's ambitious space aspirations. Carrying an experimental communications satellite, China's largest rocket lifted off at 7:23 p.m. local time (7:23 a.m. ET) toward clear skies from the seaside Wenchang space launch center on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. But 40 minutes later, the state-run Xinhua news agency flashed a headline declaring the launch a failure -- without providing any details. More (Source: CNN - Jul 3)
SPACEX SCRUBS SUNDAY LAUNCH ATTEMPT, WILL LIKELY TRY AGAIN MONDAY - The weather cooperated just fine on Sunday evening, near sunset in Florida, but the rocket did not. With just 10 seconds to go before liftoff, the on-board computers detected some issue within the rocket's guidance, navigation, and control system. At that point the flight computers stopped the countdown just before the engines were ignited. This forced a 24-hour scrub. If it can diagnose and fix the problem, SpaceX will make a second attempt to launch the Intelsat 35e satellite on Monday, with the launch window opening at, or around, 7:37pm ET. More (Source: Ars Tehnica - Jul 3)
A SATELLITE MAY BE FALLING APART IN GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT - On the morning of June 17, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES lost control of a large satellite in geostationary space, nearly 36,000km above the Earth's surface. Shortly after, the satellite operator began working with another company that specializes in space situational awareness to track the drifting machine, AMC-9. A few days ago that company, ExoAnalytic Solutions, saw the AMC-9 satellite begin to fragment. "We have seen several pieces come off of it over the past several days," ExoAnalytic's chief executive officer, Doug Hendrix, told Ars. "We are tracking at least one of the pieces. I would hesitate to say we know for sure what happened." More (Source: Ars Technica - Jul 2)
DRAGON SPACECRAFT'S HISTORIC SECOND RETURN TO EARTH: HOW TO WATCH LIVE - On Monday (July 3), the crew of the International Space Station will bid farewell to a Dragon cargo spacecraft, which will head back to Earth with more than 4,100 lbs. (1,900 kilograms) of returning cargo in tow. It's this specific spacecraft's second splashdown: It brought cargo to the space station and safely returned to Earth in 2014 as well. When the cargo craft launched to the space station in June on SpaceX's Falcon 9 spacecraft, it was the first-ever relaunch of a previously used Dragon. Departure coverage will begin at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT), and you can watch it here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 2)
SECOND LAUNCH OF CHINA’S LONG MARCH 5 HEAVY-LIFT ROCKET SET FOR SUNDAY - China’s Long March 5 rocket is counting down to liftoff Sunday from the country’s tropical island space center with a high-power, electrically-propelled communications satellite. The heavy-lifter is scheduled to blast off from the Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island at around 1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT; 7:20 p.m. Beijing time) Sunday, heading for an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit with the Shijian 18 communications satellite, the first in a new series of modern Chinese high-capacity relay stations. Sunday’s launch will be the second flight of a Long March 5 rocket, China’s most powerful launcher, which made a successful maiden mission in November 2016. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 2)
RUSSIAN SATELLITE TO BE ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST OBJECTS IN THE NIGHT SKY - The future is incredibly bright for a Russian satellite that is expected to outshine everything but the moon, starting next month. The tiny Mayak satellite will be be launched on a Soyuz 2.1v vehicle July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, IFLScience reported. Once in orbit, about 370 miles high, the satellite will unfurl a giant pyramid-shaped solar reflector to shine brighter than any other star in the night sky. More (Source: Bew York Post - Jul 1)
RUSSIAN SATELLITES TANUSHA 1 AND 2 SET FOR ACTIVATION - Two Russian satellites are planned to be activated inside the International Space Station (ISS) Russian Segment as part of a verification test from July 4-8. The satellites will eventually be deployed by hand from the ISS during a Russian space walk tentatively scheduled for August 17, 2017. More (Source: AMSAT-UK - Jul 1)
THIS GECKO-INSPIRED ROBOT COULD HELP SOLVE OUR SPACE DEBRIS DILEMMA - It’s no secret that in our decades of space travel, we haven’t always cleaned up after ourselves. Space debris—like dead satellites, empty rocket fuel containers, and shrapnel from past collisions like the 2009 Russian satellite crash—is gradually building up in the Earth's orbit. The off-world litter is causing current astronauts real problems, as new missions require careful calculations to keep track of and avoid obstacles. The International Space Station makes adjustments several times a year to avoid disastrous collisions with such space junk. More (Source: Popular Science - Jun 30)
CSUN’S CUBESAT LAUNCHES FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND CONTRIBUTES TO NASA RESEARCH - Many CubeSats are like prodigal children when launched from the International Space Station into Earth’s orbit: The miniature satellites leave home and are never heard from again. Not CSUNSat1. This mini satellite has performed like a dutiful child this summer, calling home at least twice a day to California State University, Northridge and doing all of its homework. After months of preparation and waiting, on April 18, electrical and computer engineering professors Sharlene Katz and James Flynn and their students cheered with relief as NASA launched CSUNSat1, the university’s first stellar explorer, to the International Space Station (ISS). More (Source: CSUN Today - Jun 30)
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