CHINA LAUNCHES NEW-GENERATION WEATHER SATELLITE - China launched a weather satellite at 12:11 a.m. Sunday, marking an upgrade of China's meteorological satellites in geostationary orbit. The Fengyun-4 satellite, the first of China's second-generation weather satellites in geostationary orbit to have been launched, is also the country's first quantitative remote-sensing satellite in high orbit. The satellite, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, was taken into orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 11)

HERE'S HOW NASA'S HURRICANE SATELLITE FLEET WILL WORK - Eight specialized microsatellites, slightly larger than carry-on suitcases, will launch from beneath an airplane Dec. 12 to begin monitoring hurricanes and cyclones in the tropics, piercing through rainfall to measure wind speeds at a storm's heart. Previous satellites have measured wind speed over water by shooting radio waves at the ocean and measuring how the waves scatter on the surface, indicating the wind speed. But such satellites could only monitor one site at a time, and the radio waves could be scattered when rainfall was too heavy, like deep within a hurricane.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 11)

NASA SELECTS BUILDER FOR ROBOTIC SATELLITE SERVICING CRAFT - NASA has a builder to construct a five-ton spacecraft to catch up with the aging Landsat 7 Earth observation satellite and refuel it in 2020, employing robotic tools mastered in years of rehearsals on the International Space Station. The government-managed servicing mission is named Restore-L, and NASA officials hope it will jump-start commercial concepts to refuel and repair satellites. NASA announced Dec. 5 that Space Systems/Loral, a U.S.-based satellite manufacturer owned by Canada’s MDA Corp., will build the Restore-L mission’s satellite bus. The contract is worth up to $127 million, NASA said, but that could represent just part of MDA’s contribution to the mission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 11)

TEACHING AN OLD SATELLITE NEW TRICKS - XMM-Newton is one of Europe's longest-flying and most productive orbiting observatories, investigating the hot X-ray Universe. Thanks to teamwork and technical innovation, it's on track to keep flying for a long time yet. Launched 17 years ago, ESA's orbiting X-ray telescope has helped scientists around the world to understand some of our Universe's most mysterious events, from what happens in and around black holes to how galaxies formed. At 3800 kg, the 10 m-long XMM-Newton is the biggest science satellite ever built in Europe and its telescope mirrors are the most sensitive ever developed. Expected to operate for as long as a decade, the hardy spacecraft has happily surprised everyone by lasting almost two decades - and it shows no signs of giving up.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Dec 10)

CITING SPACEX DELAYS, INMARSAT MOVES SATELLITE LAUNCH FROM FALCON HEAVY TO ARIANE 5 - The launch next year of a commercial communications craft jointly managed by London-based Inmarsat and the Greek satellite operator Hellas-Sat has been switched from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket, officials said Thursday. Inmarsat said in a statement it decided with Hellas-Sat to the satellite’s launch to an Ariane 5 rocket following a delay in SpaceX’s launch schedule. The launch aboard an Ariane 5 from Kourou, French Guiana, is expected by the middle of 2017, officials said. Officials ordered the multipurpose satellite from Thales Alenia Space for a planned launch by the end of 2016 on a Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX’s huge new booster which is still awaiting its first demonstration flight.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 10)

JOHN GLENN, 1ST AMERICAN TO ORBIT EARTH, DIES AT 95 - John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth and a former U.S. senator, has died. He was 95. Glenn died at James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he was hospitalized for more than a week, according to the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. He was the third U.S. astronaut in space, and became an American hero when he became the first to get into orbit back in 1962. "Godspeed, John Glenn," fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter radioed just before Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral.    More
(Source: KABC-TV - Dec 9)

JAXA LAUNCHES H-IIB ROCKET WITH HTV-6 RESUPPLY MISSION TO STATION - In what was the fifth orbital launch of December, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the HTV-6 automated resupply spacecraft for the International Space Station atop their H-IIB rocket. Liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center occurred at 22:26:47 Japan Standard Time (13:26:47 GMT – 08:26:47 EST) on 9 December, kicking off a four-day rendezvous dance with the ISS. HTV-6 (H-II Transfer Vehicle 6) is the sixth craft in a fleet of one-time use uncrewed resupply vehicles that serve JAXA’s commitments to the International Space Station (ISS).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 9)

SPACEX LOSES SATELLITE LAUNCH ORDER DUE TO SCHEDULE DELAYS - Due to scheduling delays, one of SpaceX’s customers has decided to go with a different rocket. British satellite operator Inmarsat announced today that it will launch one of its satellites on a European Ariane 5 rocket, instead of on one of SpaceX’s vehicles like it had originally planned. On short notice, Inmarsat was able to secure a mid-2017 launch for the spacecraft — a communication satellite for the European Aviation Network (EAN). “We are delighted with [the] flexibility that Arianespace has shown in being able to provide a launch slot that enables us to place our European Aviation Network S-band satellite in orbit by mid-2017,” Michele Franci, CTO of Inmarsat, said in a statement.    More
(Source: The Verge - Dec 9)

JAXA HTV-6 BOUND FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, GETS TV COVERAGE FROM NASA - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch its H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-6 on Friday, December 9 at 8:26 a.m. EST (10:26 p.m. Japan time) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. The Japanese cargo ship's launch to the International Space Station (ISS) and arrival at the orbiting laboratory will be live streamed through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) official television channel and website from December 9 to 13. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 8:00, an official press release from the space agency stated.   More
(Source: Nature World News - Dec 8)

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