SPACE STATION 'GREAT MODEL FOR SOCIETY,' SAYS ASTRONAUT - The International Space Station is a "great model for society," said NASA Astronaut and retired Army Col. Robert S. "Shane" Kimbrough, who returned to Earth April 10 after 173 days in space. It's a study of how six Russians, Americans, French and Japanese can work together in confined spaces to do some really incredible science and research that will benefit all of society, said Kimbrough, who was the Expedition 50 commander on the International Space Station. The experience on the ISS demonstrates that "none of the countries could do that alone. It takes all the international partners working together to make that space station program happen," he said.    More
(Source: Army - Apr 14)

LONG MARCH 3B LAUNCHES EXPERIMENTAL CHINASAT-16 SATELLITE - The Chinese returned to launch action with the lofting of a new experimental communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The launch was conducted by the Long March 3B G2 ‘Chang Zheng-3B/G2’ (Y43) from the LC2 Launch Complex at the Sichuan province site, with T-0 noted as 11:04 UTC. The 4.6-tonne satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and is based on the DFH-3B satellite platform. According to state media reports, the satellite will be named Shijian-13 during its test program phase, before being renamed ChinaSat 16 when it is transferred to China SatCom.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 13)

ORBITAL ATK SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH SET FOR TUESDAY - A cargo resupply Atlas V launch Tuesday will kick off a busy period of traffic for the International Space Station. Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft is set to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. More Space News Headlines Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin. Where to watch rocket launches on the Space Coast Spacecraft headed to ISS named in honor of John Glenn SpaceX launches, lands previously flown Falcon 9 booster The 30-minute launch window opens on April 18 at 11:11 a.m. A backup date is scheduled for April 19. The cargo capsule will deliver more than 7,600 pounds of essentials to the astronauts living on the space station, along with science research and hardware for the orbiting laboratory.   More
(Source: WKMG Orlando - Apr 13)

AXIOM AIMS TO BUILD WORLD'S FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION - Axiom Space, a Houston-based commercial space startup, will build the world’s first, privately-funded commercial space station --- an incredibly economical, for-profit $1.5 billion replacement for the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS) which ceases operation in 2024. The plan is for Axiom to initially hitch a module to the ISS before becoming a stand-alone station itself that will play host to a seven member crew of both professional astronauts, researchers and space tourists as well as manufacturing and research entities. Axiom hopes to reduce the existing ISS’ massive construction costs by using as much off the shelf, plug and play space architecture and equipment as possible.   More
(Source: Forbes - Apr 13)

MUSK WANTS TO MAKE FALCON ROCKETS FULLY REUSABLE - SpaceX chief Elon Musk said last week he is “fairly confident” his company’s Falcon rockets can be made fully reusable within a couple of years, suggesting a renewed emphasis on outfitting upper stages for a scorching re-entry after engineers shelved the idea to focus on landing the launcher’s bigger booster stage. The launch firm revealed a concept to recover and reuse both stages of the Falcon 9 rocket in 2011, but visible technical progress has been limited to the first stage in the last few years. Landing and relaunching the Falcon 9’s first stage presented a lesser challenge to SpaceX’s engineers, and the booster is the most valuable part of the rocket, representing about 70 percent of its total cost.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 12)

THIS STARTUP WANTS TO BUILD A NANO SATELLITE FLEET FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS - We're hurtling towards a future where everything from cows to toasters will be internet-connected. But do we have the infrastructure to support this digital web? An Australian startup wants its nano satellites to help form the backbone of the internet of things. Founded in 2015, Adelaide-based Fleet announced a A$5 million ($3.8 million) Series A funding round Tuesday, to help build its satellite constellation.   More
(Source: Mashable - Apr 12)

NASA, AMAZON TO LIVE-STREAM FIRST 4K ULTRA HD VIDEO FROM SPACE - NASA will give Earth dwellers the first live-streaming look at 4K Ultra HD video from space, in an event co-produced with Amazon Web Services. The U.S. space agency will present the free live-stream during a session at the 2017 NAB Show on April 26 in Las Vegas. The live feed from 250 miles above Earth will be encoded with Amazon Web Services’ Elemental encoding software on board the International Space Station (pictured above) and on the ground at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.   More
(Source: Variety - Apr 12)

ITALIAN RADAR SATELLITE, EUROPEAN EXOPLANET TELESCOPE TO LAUNCH ON SOYUZ NEXT YEAR - The Italian government has decided to launch two next-generation radar reconnaissance satellites on Soyuz and Vega rockets from French Guiana, and a European Space Agency telescope to study the structures of planets around other stars will likely ride to orbit as a co-passenger on one of the missions. The Italian Space Agency, or ASI, considered launching the first of the two second-generation Cosmo-SkyMed surveillance satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but officials ultimately elected to book the launch on a Europeanized version of Russia’s Soyuz rocket next year, ASI announced this week.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 11)

SPACE STATION CREW RETURNS TO EARTH SAFELY ON SOYUZ CAPSULE - Three space fliers have safely touched down on Earth after almost six months aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko all arrived at the station together for Expedition 49/50 mission in October 2016, and they reached solid ground this morning (April 10) at 7:20 a.m. EDT (1120 GMT) in Kazakhstan. They spent 173 days in space during their flight.   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 11)

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