CHINA’S SPACE LAB LAUNCHES MICRO-SATELLITE - China’s experimental space lab Tiangong-2 orbiting the Earth with two astronauts on board has successfully launched a micro-satellite, roughly the size of a desktop printer. Weighing 47 kilogrammes, the micro satellite has a series of visible light cameras, including a 25 megapixel camera and wide-angle imagers. Its mission is to take photographs of Tiangong II and the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which docked with the lab on Wednesday. The Tiangong II space laboratory released its companion satellite, Banxing-2, at 7:31 am local time Sunday. The satellite, which the media has nicknamed “Selfie Stick”, also has an infrared camera that is temperature-sensitive, said Chen Hongyu, chief engineer of the satellite programme and a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Micro-satellite Innovation Institute.   More
(Source: The Indian Express - Oct 25)

ANOTHER U.S. AIR FORCE WEATHER SATELLITE JUST BROKE UP IN ORBIT - A third U.S. Air Force weather satellite that launched more than 20 years ago has broken up in orbit, Air Force Space Command disclosed Monday evening. Air Force officials confirmed the breakup of the long-retired Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 12 satellite (DMSP F-12) after the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, detected an additional object orbiting alongside the 22-year-old satellite. DMSP F-12, which the Air Force retired from service in 2008, had the same battery assembly that was implicated in the February 2015 breakup of DMSP F-13.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 25)

A STARTUP’S CONSTELLATION OF TINY SATELLITES IS NOW PHOTOGRAPHING A THIRD OF EARTH’S LANDMASS EVERY - Are you ready for the coming era of global transparency? After two years in operation, the satellite-imaging startup Planet tells Quartz that it is now photographing more than 50 million square kilometers of the earth every single day. That’s about a tenth of the world’s surface area, or more than a third of its 149 million square kilometers of land. Indeed, in September 2016 alone, the company says it imaged 91% of earth’s land mass. Planet’s plan is to make that imagery available to the public, with free basic access and premium accounts for higher quantity and quality data. It’s likely to impact everything from finance and farming to environmental protection and human rights.   More
(Source: Quartz - Oct 25)

SPACE STATION ACCEPTS 1ST VIRGINIA DELIVERY IN 2 YEARS - The International Space Station received its first shipment from Virginia in more than two years Sunday following a sensational nighttime launch observed 250 miles up and down the East Coast. Orbital ATK's cargo ship pulled up at the space station bearing 5,000 pounds of food, equipment and research. "What a beautiful vehicle," said Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, who used the station's big robot arm to grab the vessel. The capture occurred as the spacecraft soared 250 miles above Kyrgyzstan; Onishi likened it to the last 195 meters of a marathon. Last Monday's liftoff from Wallops Island was the first by an Antares rocket since a 2014 launch explosion.   More
(Source: ABC News - Oct 24)

GLASGOW FIRM ALBA ORBITAL READY TO LAUNCH TINY SATELLITE INTO OUTER SPACE - A Small Scots start-up company is about to launch its own satellite into space – which is the size of a drinks can. Alba Orbital, based in Glasgow, has created the cuboid shaped satellite to be used to monitor aeroplanes. And after a year’s development, they are ready to see it launched into space on the back of a Russian rocket early next year. The satellite – which is no bigger than a can of Coke – is the smallest of its kind made in the UK, and will be deployed in a pod, before blasting out into the darkness of the solar system.    More
(Source: Glasgow Evening Times - Oct 23)

WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES SMALL SATELLITE INITIATIVE - The White House announced a new initiative Oct. 21 to promote the development of small satellites, collecting under one roof a number of efforts, some of which started months ago. The “Harnessing the Small Satellite Revolution” initiative, announced in a White House Office of Science and Technology Policy statement, highlights several ongoing efforts by NASA, the Pentagon and other federal government agencies to help develop smallsats or make use of images or other data they provide. Some elements of the initiative were announced weeks or months ago. The OSTP announcement highlighted a $20 million award the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency made to Planet, the San Francisco-based company developing a constellation of Earth imaging satellites.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 22)

CURRENT AMATEUR RADIO STATUS ON BOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The VHF handheld radio model that has been used by the ARISS program to connect students worldwide with astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) for over 16 years has given an error message and is unusable at this time. While the ARISS technical team evaluates the best path to restore operation from the Columbus module, ARISS contacts will be supported using the Kenwood radio in the Russian Service Module. During this period, the packet digipeater will be unavailable.   More
(Source: Southgate Amateur Radio Club - Oct 22)

NEW US-RUSSIAN CREW ARRIVES AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko docked with the International Space Station at 5:52 a.m. EDT (0952 GMT) this morning (Oct. 21) after a smooth two-day trip aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The trio launched into orbit early Wednesday, nearly a month later than their initial Sept. 23 liftoff target due to a technical issue with their spacecraft. The Soyuz linked up with the space station as as both spacecraft sailed 251 miles (403 kilomters) over southern Russia. Ryzhikov, who piloted the spacecraft, is experiencing spaceflight for the first time; both Kimbrough and Borisenko have been to space once before.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 22)

NORTH KOREA PROMISES MORE SATELLITE LAUNCHES AFTER FAILED MISSILE TEST - North Korea vowed to launch more earth-observation satellites after its second ballistic missile test launch of the week ended in failure. A spokesman for Pyongyang's National Aerospace Development Administration said Thursday that South Korea had unjustly criticized its past satellite launches and that the country is unfazed by the condemnations. "Even on the international stage, [South Korean President] Park Geun-hye's faction has been shamefully disparaging our peaceful use of space and satellite launches, and in turn becoming a target of criticism and disgrace for indecent behavior," the North Korean spokesman said. The remark was referring to South Korea's statement at the 71st United Nations General Assembly, according to South Korean news service Newsis.   More
(Source: UPI - Oct 21)

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