NEXT SPACE STATION CREW SET FOR LAUNCH NOV. 17, WATCH LIVE ON NASA TV - NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG, of ESA (European Space Agency) will launch Thursday, Nov. 17, for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Prelaunch activities will air through Nov. 16, and live launch coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. EST Nov. 17, on NASA Television and the agency’s website. The crew of Expedition 50/51 will launch at 3:20 p.m. (2:20 a.m. Nov. 18, Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.    More
(Source: Southgate Amateur Radio Club - Nov 14)

CHINA LAUNCHES YUNHAI-1 METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE - China sent into space a meteorological satellite, Yunhai-1, at 7:14 a.m. Saturday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's gobi desert. Yunhai-1 was carried by a Long March-2D rocket, the 240th mission for the Long March rocket family.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Nov 13)

LARGE METAL CYLINDER CRASHES TO EARTH IN MYANMAR - A large metal cylinder thought to be part of a Chinese rocket has crashed in a jade mining area in Myanmar. State media published images of the 4.5m-long (15ft) drum resting in mud on property owned by a mining company in Hpakank, in the northern state of Kachin. Chinese writing was found on a smaller piece of debris that fell through the roof of a nearby house at the same time. No one was hurt. Residents reported hearing an explosion as the larger barrel-shaped piece crashed to earth then bounced 50 metres across the mine’s compound before coming to rest in a waterlogged area.    More
(Source: The Guardian - Nov 12)

NASA'S NEWEST SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION WILL TRACK HURRICANES - NASA's newest small satellite constellation will be the first with an Earth science mission. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, a collection of eight micro-satellites, will collectively track hurricanes. The system, set to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 12, will be carried into space by a Pegasus XL rocket. Data collected by the satellite formation will help scientists track storms, as well as predict their intensity. CYGNSS data is also expected to improve storm surge forecasts. The CYGNSS mission is a partnership between NASA, the University of Michigan and the Southwest Research Institute.   More
(Source: UPI - Nov 12)

COMMERCIAL SATELLITE LAUNCHED TO IMAGE THE EARTH IN HIGH-RESOLUTION - A companion to the world’s most powerful private Earth-imaging satellite rocketed into space today from the U.S. west coast atop an Atlas 5 to double the amount of high-resolution imagery available on the commercial market and satisfy the demands of customers clamoring for more. The 10-year mission of the WorldView 4 satellite began at 10:30:33 a.m. local time (1:30:33 p.m. EST; 1830:33 GMT) as the United Launch Alliance booster powered away from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after an extended wait to fly. The launch was postponed eight weeks by a 12,500-acre wildfire that scorched Vandenberg in late September and the lengthy repairs to the base’s power grid in the aftermath.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 12)

THERE’S A NEW SATELLITE IN TOWN - One of the main satellite-based program delivery conduits that many radio stations use is about to change, starting today. The AMC-8 satellite is being replaced by AMC-18. This affects delivery of programming including: Cumulus Media and Westwood One, Orbital Media Networks, Premiere Radio Networks, Learfield, Skyview, et al, along with a large number of single programs that buy sat time. Current dishes will need to be reoriented from the 139-degree west longitude arc of AMC-8 to the 105-degree west longitude arc of AMC-18. - See more at: http://www.radioworld.com/article/theres-a-new-satellite-in-town/280001#sthash.Xa7pWBZY.dpuf   More
(Source: Radio World - Nov 11)

CHINA LAUNCHES PULSAR NAVIGATION SATELLITE XPNAV-1 - China today successfully launched a navigation satellite which will conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detectors to demonstrate new technologies. The X-ray pulsar navigation satellite — XPNAV-1 — weighing more than 200 kilogrammes, was sent skyward at 7:42 AM (local time) atop a Long March 11 solid-fuelled rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest. The satellite operates in a Sun-synchronous orbit and will conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detectors to demonstrate new technologies, state-run China Daily reported. It was carried by a Long March-11 rocket, the 239th flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket series.   More
(Source: The Indian Express - Nov 11)

NASA SMALL SATELLITES WILL TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT EARTH - Beginning this month, NASA is launching a suite of six next-generation, Earth-observing small satellite missions to demonstrate innovative new approaches for studying our changing planet. These small satellites range in size from a loaf of bread to a small washing machine and weigh from a few to 400 pounds (180 kilograms). Their small size keeps development and launch costs down as they often hitch a ride to space as a "secondary payload" on another mission's rocket - providing an economical avenue for testing new technologies and conducting science.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Nov 10)

ADVANCED WEATHER BIRD MOUNTED ATOP ATLAS 5 ROCKET FOR LAUNCH INTO SPACE - The opening volley in the transformation of U.S. weather forecasting was mounted atop its ride to space today for the planned Nov. 19 launch that begins an $11 billion upgrade in the nation’s meteorology capability. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R, or GOES-R, was hoisted high atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket this morning at the vehicle’s Cape Canaveral vertical assembly building. At 11,500 pounds and equipped with advanced sensors, it is the heaviest and most sophisticated U.S. weather satellite in history, continuing a line of 16 previous GOES craft launched since 1975.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 10)

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