SPACEX TO LAUNCH ARCTIC SATELLITE BROADBAND MISSION AUGUST 11-12 - After a delay from the original launch date of July 15th, 2024, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission August 11-12, consisting of two satellites owned by Space Norway. The Falcon 9 will launch the two Northrop Grumman-built satellites into a highly elliptical orbit that lingers over the Arctic region. The satellites carry communications payloads for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Space Force, and Inmarsat. The launch will take place at SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT, 0200 UTC).   More
(Source: SatNews - Aug 9)

ISS ASTRONAUTS ON EIGHT-DAY MISSION MAY BE STUCK UNTIL 2025, NASA SAYS - Two US astronauts who blasted into space for an eight-day mission in June may be stuck on the International Space Station until next year if their Boeing Starliner cannot be repaired for them to return home, Nasa has said. Nasa officials on Wednesday said astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who became the first crew to fly Boeing’s Starliner capsule, could return on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025 if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Aug 9)

PRIVATE CYGNUS FREIGHTER ARRIVES AT THE ISS WITH 4 TONS OF SUPPLIES - Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus freighter reached the International Space Station (ISS) early Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), carrying about 4 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. The Cygnus, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday (Aug. 4), was captured by the station's robotic arm on Tuesday at 3:11 a.m. (0711 GMT), as the duo were flying over the South Atlantic Ocean. The freighter — named the S.S. Richard "Dick" Scobee, after the commander of the tragic STS-51-L mission of the space shuttle Challenger — delivered nearly 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of food, scientific gear and other supplies to the ISS.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 8)

HEAVIER SMALLSATS WEIGH DOWN MARKET FORECASTS - The number of smallsats forecasted to launch in the next decade is declining as some satellites get heavier. In a presentation at a side meeting during the Small Satellite Conference Aug. 7, Gabriel Deville, senior consultant at Novaspace, said his company was forecasting 14,500 smallsats would launch in the next decade. Novaspace, formed earlier this year from the merger of Euroconsult and SpaceTec Partners, defines smallsats as those weighing no more than 500 kilograms.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 8)

SPACEX'S NEW DIRECT-TO-CELL STARLINK SATELLITES ARE WAY BRIGHTER THAN THE ORIGINALS - SpaceX Starlink satellites designed to connect directly to smartphones shine nearly five times brighter in the sky than traditional Starlinks, according to recent research. SpaceX plans to form what it calls "a cellphone tower in space" with thousands of direct-to-cell (DTC) satellites around Earth that offer service straight to unmodified smartphones "wherever you can see the sky." The higher luminosity of these DTCs compared to regular Starlinks is partly because they circle Earth at just 217 miles (350 kilometers) above the surface, which is lower than traditional Starlink internet satellites, whose altitude is 340 miles (550 kilometers), the study reported.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 7)

CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST SATELLITES FOR THOUSAND SAILS MEGACONSTELLATION - China successfully launched the first batch of 18 satellites Tuesday for the Thousand Sails low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, north China, at 2:42 a.m. Eastern (0642 UTC) Aug. 6. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success just over two hours later. The Long March 6A upper stage deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) satellites into polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST).    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 7)

NASA: CYGNUS ON TRACK FOR TUESDAY MORNING ARRIVAL AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is preparing to end a roughly 40-hour journey playing catchup with the International Space Station. After launching late Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft is targeting its arrival at the orbiting outpost Tuesday morning. According to NASA, the Cygnus is on track for capture and the beginning of the berthing process at 3:10 a.m. EDT (0710 UTC). NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will be controlling the Canadarm2 robotic arm during the operation and fellow Crew-8 member and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will be serving in the backup role.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 6)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES TO ORBIT FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink satellites to orbit early Sunday (Aug. 4), continuing a busy stretch for the company. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday at 3:24 a.m. EDT (0724 GMT; 12:24 a.m. local California time). The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch as planned, landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 5)

NASA AND SPACEX LAUNCH A NORTHROP GRUMMAN CYGNUS SPACECRAFT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - While the weather proved challenging heading into Sunday’s launch attempt of the Northrop Grumman-21 (NG-21) cargo resupply mission, SpaceX received enough of a good margin that it was able to launch the NASA mission to the International Space Station. With a liftoff of its Falcon 9 rocket at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC), Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft began its roughly 40-hour journey to the orbiting outpost. It deployed its twin circular solar panels at 2:21 a.m. EDT (1821 UTC) to begin charging its batteries.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 5)

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