NASA ASSIGNS UPCOMING SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS - NASA is assigning veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel and first-flight astronaut Jeanette Epps to missions aboard the International Space Station in 2018. Feustel will launch in March 2018 for his first long-duration mission, serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, and later as commander of Expedition 56. Epps will become the first African American space station crew member when she launches on her first spaceflight in May 2018. She'll join Feustel as a flight engineer on Expedition 56, and remain on board for Expedition 57. More (Source: Space Daily - Jan 6)
NEWLY-LAUNCHED SATELLITES SET TO SMASH INTO EARTH AFTER CRUCIAL MISTAKE - It's claimed the two satellites, launched last Wednesday, are in an egg-shaped orbit ranging from 133 to 325 miles high. Such an orbit would likely see them re-enter Earth's atmosphere within months, spaceflightnow.com reports. And it's unclear whether the craft have enough fuel to force themselves into a safer, higher altitude. The news comes follows revelations that China's Tiangong-1 space station had lost control and would also crash to Earth. More (Source: Daily Star - Jan 5)
VA. COMPANY TO LAUNCH SATELLITE WITH SPACEX - The Satellite Network Operations Center at Iridium is rehearsing for a new satellite to be launched on a SpaceX rocket that will start replacing an aging commercial constellation. Iridium, a company out of McLean, Virginia, worked with SpaceX to launch the first of 10 new satellites on the Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It’s all part of the new $3 billion NEXT constellation, a mission geared at replacing the aging commercial constellation being called the ‘largest tech refresh out there.’ More (Source: WUSA9.com - Jan 5)
ISRO AIMS FOR WORLD RECORD WITH 103 SATELLITE LAUNCHES IN ONE GO: 10 FACTS - India will launch a record 103 satellites in one go during the next mission of PSLV, space agency ISRO announced at the ongoing Indian Science Congress in Tirupati today. The launch, said the participating scientists of the organisation, will take place in the first week of February. The launch will be huge feat, as an attempt of this scale has never been made before. The previous world record is held by Russian rocket Dnepr, which launched 39 satellites at one go in June 2014. More (Source: NDTV - Jan 5)
NASA PICKS SPACEX AND BOEING TO FERRY ASTRONAUTS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA has hired U.S. firms Boeing and SpaceX to ferry more astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), with the first crewed test flight set for as early as May 2018. In 2014, both private firms entered in to a contract with NASA to carry out a space taxi service but were only offered two missions each. Now Boeing and SpaceX will get six missions each, but only if their technology can pass NASA certification. At present, NASA astronauts go to and from the space station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and have done since 2011when NASA last flew its space shuttle mission. More (Source: CNBC - Jan 5)
A COMPANY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF PLANS TO BUILD THE WORLD'S FIRST PRIVATE SPACE STATION - Not many people have heard of Axiom Space outside a small segment of the space community. The company didn't exist until 2016, and only has a half-dozen employees. Yet it only takes a quick glance at the company's publicity materials or a chat with one of its representatives to see that the name Axiom fits well. An axiom is a statement that is established, accepted or self-evidently true, and that's how the company talks about its future. They aren't planning to build the first private space station—they're doing it. They aren't hoping to launch a mutlipurpose module to the International Space Station in 2020—they are. An Axiom-sponsored astronaut isn't projected to visit the station in 2019—he or she is. More (Source: The Planetary Society - Jan 4)
CHINA IS RAINING SATELLITES... SUSPECTS ARE WAYWARD OUT OF ORBIT SATELLITES - Last week, China launched satellites that were to become part of their Earth Observation Constellation. Almost immediately they did not reach their intended orbit, and today parts of a satellite fell to Earth. According to South China Morning Post... Debris that has rained down on a city in the central China province of Henan is believed to be from two recently launched satellites. The debris found in Lingbao, some of which bears the wording “China Aerospace”, was confirmed by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center to be pieces of two high-resolution Earth-imaging satellites, The Beijing News reported. More (Source: SatNews Publishers - Jan 3)
SPACEX FAILURE PROBE COMPLETE; FLIGHTS TO RESUME SUNDAY FROM CALIFORNIA - After an exhaustive investigation, SpaceX engineers have identified the most likely cause of the spectacular explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-launch test Sept. 1 that destroyed the booster and its $195 million satellite payload, the company announced Monday. SpaceX engineers believe the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station mishap was triggered by the failure of a high-pressure helium tank, one of three used to pressurize the second stage liquid oxygen tank. Putting corrective actions in place, the company said Monday it plans to resume flights with a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base northwest of Los Angeles on Jan. 8 to boost 10 Iridium NEXT satellite telephone relay stations into orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 3)
LAUNCH OF RUSSIA'S NEW PROGRESS SPACECRAFT SET FOR FEBRUARY 2 - The launch of Russia's Progress MS-05 space freighter to the International Space Station (ISS) is preliminary set for February 2, 2017, although it could be postponed, a space industry source told RIA Novosti. "So far the launch is scheduled for February 2. But if the commission fails due to objective reasons to conclude its work by December 30, as it was declared by Roscosmos [Russia's space agency], and a definite cause of the [Progress MS-04] accident is not revealed, then the launch dates of the next 'Progress' could be shifted...," the source said on Wednesday. More (Source: Space Daily - Jan 2)
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