THE WORLD'S FIRST VR CAMERA SATELLITE LAUNCHES NEXT SUMMER - SpaceVR has signed a launch agreement to send its virtual reality satellite to the International Space Station using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2017. The small startup has contracted NanoRacks — a company that runs the commercial laboratory aboard the International Space Station — to prepare Overview 1, SpaceVR’s twin-camera cube satellite, for release into low Earth orbit using NanoRacks’ CubeSat Deployer. Overview 1 will head to the ISS inside one of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsules during the CRS-12 resupply mission, which is expected to launch early next summer. SpaceVR originally took off as a Kickstarter in 2015. Back then the plan was to send a 12-camera rig to the ISS that would be capable of shooting 3D, 360-degree footage.    More
(Source: The Verge - Aug 9)

USAF SBIRS MISSILE WARNING SATELLITE PREPARES FOR OCTOBER LAUNCH - The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin delivered the next Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Aug. 2, ahead of its October launch. SBIRS includes a combination of satellites in GEO orbit, hosted payloads in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), and ground hardware and software. The data provided by SBIRS enhances the military’s ability to detect missile launches, supports ballistic missile defense, expands technical intelligence gathering, and bolsters situational awareness on the battlefield.    More
(Source: American Security Today - Aug 7)

CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST MOBILE TELECOM SATELLITE - China on early Saturday successfully launched the first satellite for mobile telecommunication. The Tiantong-01 satellite was launched at 00:22 a.m. Beijing Time, at southwestern China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, with the Long March-3B carrier rocket. It is the first satellite of China's home-made satellite mobile telecom system, and a key part of the country's space information infrastructure. More geostationary satellites will be sent into orbit for the system.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Aug 6)

FIRST JPSS SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED TWO MONTHS - The launch of the first next-generation polar orbiting weather satellite has slipped by two months because of issues with the spacecraft and its ground systems, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Aug. 5. NOAA spokesman John Leslie said the launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) 1 spacecraft, which had been scheduled for January 2017, is now expected to take place in March. “Based on recent tests of the flight and ground systems and an assessment of the remaining work to bring the system to flight readiness, NOAA has determined it cannot meet the Jan. 20, 2017 launch date for JPSS-1 with reasonable confidence,” Leslie said in a statement provided to SpaceNews. He did not elaborate on the issues causing the delay, although sources say a problem with one of the spacecraft’s instruments may be part of the reason for the delay.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 6)

OLYMPIC FEVER HITS SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS - Astronauts on the International Space Station will be cheering on their home nations as countries compete in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which start today (Aug. 5). Members of the Expedition 48 crew represent three nations: the United States, Japan and Russia. In a recorded message on the Team USA Twitter feed, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins drew links between the international collaborations in space and those in sport. "All of us will certainly be rooting for our home nations in competition, but we'll celebrate the spirit of the games together," she said.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 6)

FIRST TWO IRIDIUM NEXT SATELLITES SHIPPED TO VANDENBERG - The first two next-generation Iridium satellites, designed to connect global subscribers with data and voice traffic, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Tuesday, where they will join eight more message relay craft for launch in September on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This week’s shipment via truck from an Orbital ATK satellite manufacturing plant near Phoenix to Vandenberg on California’s Central Coast will be followed by the arrival of eight more spacecraft at the launch site. Like the first two craft, subsequent satellites will be transported two-and-a-time inside self-stabilizing, climate-controlled containers on a truck to SpaceX’s clean room...   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 5)

THE MILITARY'S NEW COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE HAS MALFUNCTIONED - In late June, the military launched communications satellite MUOS-5 with the goal of creating a secure communications grid over Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. MUOS-5 will work with the four other MUOS satellites that have already been launched. At least, it would if it made it to the correct orbit. Unfortunately, it seems something has malfunctioned on the satellite, and it's no longer able to reach the orbital height it was supposed to. Currently, the satellite is stuck in a lower, intermediate, highly elliptical orbit.   More
(Source: Popular Mechanics - Aug 4)

WORRIED ABOUT SPACE WEATHER? NEW SATELLITE PROVIDES WARNINGS - A distant satellite called DSCVR is now sending information about potentially damaging space weather back to Earth, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) announced last week. Ejections from the sun cause the aurora borealis we see on Earth, but it can also disrupt services like GPS, power grids, and telecommunications. The DSCVR satellite is a million miles from Earth— and 92 million from the Sun— and stays in between the two bodies, measuring the weather from the Sun headed towards Earth   More
(Source: Fox News - Aug 4)

DONALD TRUMP WANTS YOU TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT AMERICA'S SPACE PROGRAM - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump runs a little hot and cold on the U.S. space program. During his Reddit AMA last week, Trump extolled the virtues of NASA, saying that he thinks the space agency is "wonderful" and that "America has always led the world in space exploration." On Wednesday, however, Trump sang a different tune. "Look at your space program. Look at what’s going on there," Trump said at a town hall event in Daytona Beach, Florida.    More
(Source: Mashable - Aug 4)

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