U.S. LAUNCHES ITS HIGHEST CAPACITY MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - An antenna-covered communications spacecraft that will bring more bandwidth and capacity to the U.S. military’s global information grid than any single satellite ever before was successfully launched Wednesday atop a Delta 4 rocket. United Launch Alliance delivered the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 8 into space for the U.S. Air Force following a 42-minute flight of the powerful rocket. The two-stage Delta 4 was fueled during an uneventful afternoon countdown, then lit its hydrogen-fed main engine and four side-mounted solid-propellant boosters to depart Cape Canaveral right on schedule at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 8)
SLOW-SCAN TELEVISION TRANSMISSIONS SCHEDULED FROM ISS - Slow-scan television (SSTV) transmissions from the International Space Station (ISS) are scheduled for December 8-9. The SSTV images will be transmitted from RS0ISS on 145.800 MHz FM as part of the Moscow Aviation Institute MAI-75 Experiment, using the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver in the ISS Service Module. MAI-75 activities have been scheduled on December 8, 1235-1800 UTC, and December 9, 1240-1740 UTC. More (Source: ARRL - Dec 7)
ISS PACKET DIGIPEATER IS NOW ON 70 CENTIMETERS - The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet digipeater aboard the ISS has been active for several days now on 437.550 MHz. The UHF frequency means users will have to make adjustments for Doppler on both uplink and downlink. The change to 70 centimeters comes in the wake of a problem that has sidelined the Ericsson VHF transceiver, so the UHF model has been put into service. The digipeater operates just as it did when it was on its former 145.825 MHz frequency. More (Source: ARRL - Dec 7)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 10-SATELLITE CONSTELLATION FOR IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS ON DECEMBER 16 - SpaceX, the US-based private space agency is all geared up to launch a 10 satellite-constellation belonging to Iridium Communications, a global satellite communications company on December 16. SpaceX will be deploying its Falcon 9 rocket to launch the new satellite constellation that is part of the company's NEXT satellite network, Aerospace-Technology reported. A successful launch will give boost to SpaceX and its ability to undertake such activities in the future. However the launch is dependent on US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval. More (Source: International Business Times - Dec 7)
NASA JUST COMMISSIONED A SPACECRAFT THAT CAN REFUEL SATELLITES ALREADY IN ORBIT - NASA has just commissioned a new type of spacecraft that will be able to refuel satellites while they’re still in orbit around Earth. Dubbed the Restore-L Spacecraft Bus, the vehicle will act like a traveling gas station, by meeting up with probes in orbit and filling up the satellites’ tanks. Such a spacecraft will make it possible for satellites to operate a whole lot longer in space than they were originally supposed to. NASA won’t be making the entire Restore-L spacecraft on its own, though. That job is going to California-based satellite builder Space Systems Loral (SSL). More (Source: The Verge - Dec 7)
ISIS TO LAUNCH SPACE STATION CALLED ISISSS TO KEEP AN EYE ON HEAVEN FOR ITS SOLDIERS :) - [Satire] ISIS has launched yet another of their venture this year, making them one of the famous multi-faceted terrorist corporations in the world. They’ve had their hands on many things, such as prostitution, trafficking of girls, chemical warfare, executions, genocide etc to name a few. Now they want to reach the pinnacle of scientific exploration. They have launched the ISISSS, Islamic State of Iraq&Syria’s Space Station. More (Source: Firstpost (satire) - Dec 7)
ISRO TO LAUNCH REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE ON DECEMBER 7 - Capping a year of successful launches, Indian Space Research Organisation is all set to launch PSLV-C36 carrying remote sensing satellite RESOURCESAT-2A from the spaceport of Sriharikota on December 7, the space agency said today. The 44.4 metre tall PSLV C36 is expected to place the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A into an 827km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in about 18 minutes after lift off. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C36, in its 38th flight, will blast off at 10.24 AM from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, about 125 km from Chennai, ISRO said on its website. More (Source: NDTV - Dec 6)
VEGA MISSION ORBITS TURKISH EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE - Arianespace lofted Turkey’s Göktürk-1 Earth observation satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit Dec. 5 aboard a Vega rocket, marking the eighth success for the European light-lift vehicle. Göktürk-1 prime contractor Telespazio reported signal acquisition 68 minutes after its 8:51 a.m. EST liftoff from Europe’s Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite separated from Vega’s upper stage 57 minutes into the launch. Göktürk-1 is the bigger brother of Turkey’s Göktürk-2, which despite the name ordering, launched in December 2012 aboard a Chinese Long March 2D. Compared to its 400-kilogram, medium-resolution predecessor, Göktürk-1 weighs in at 1,060 kilograms and sports a sharper, sub-meter camera with an onboard digital imaging storage system. More (Source: SpaceNews - Dec 6)
GOOGLE'S SATELLITE TIMELAPSES SHOW THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH ABOUT OUR PLANET - The image of the Earth from space is so seared into human consciousness that it is hard to conceive what it was like to live without the picture of our planet as a blue sphere that we all now carry in our minds. The first photographs of the Earth’s surface seen from 100 miles were taken in 1947. By 1968, the famous Earthrise image photographed by the crew of Apollo 8 framed our planet as a beautiful oasis in black space. More (Source: The Guardian - Dec 6)
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