ATLAS V READY TO LAUNCH NAVY SATELLITE - United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket returns to action Friday after a close call three months ago, when its main engine quit firing six seconds too soon. The early shutdown imperiled a launch of International Space Station supplies that reached orbit safely thanks to an extra minute of work by the rocket’s upper stage, News 6 partner Florida Today reported. ULA says it has fixed a valve problem that restricted fuel flow on that March 22 flight, leaving a significant amount unused. Now the most powerful version of the Atlas V is poised for a 10:30 a.m. blastoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 with a large, military communications satellite.   More
(Source: WKMG Orlando - Jun 24)

CRS-9 PUSHED BACK TWO DAYS; PORT CANAVERAL MULLS NEW WHARFAGE FEES - The next launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been pushed back by two days to July 18. The mission is set to launch the next Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS). Also this week, Port Canaveral recently proposed a new wharfage fee for large aerospace item moving across the Canaveral docks. Scheduled to rise spaceward at 12:45 a.m. EDT (4:45 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, a Dragon capsule will carry much-needed equipment to the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX’s ninth mission under the Commercial Resupply Services contract, CRS-9, will carry nearly 4,900 pounds (2,200 kilograms) of science research, food, and more.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Jun 24)

SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP GIVES ITS ALL FOR SCIENCE - With one last task to carry out, a space station Cygnus cargo ship loaded with trash and no-longer-needed equipment fell back to Earth Wednesday, hitting the discernible atmosphere 60 miles or so above the Pacific Ocean at nearly 5 miles per second. Based on past experience, the doomed supply ship was expected to quickly fall victim to the enormous temperatures generated by atmospheric friction, heating up, melting and breaking apart at an altitude of around 45 miles. But as it transitioned from pristine spacecraft to blazing inferno, a heavily protected data recorder was programmed to collect readings from wireless sensors mounted throughout the vehicle.   More
(Source: CBS News - Jun 23)

INDIA’S PSLV BLASTS OFF WITH 20 SATELLITES - A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off early Wednesday with an assortment of payloads for the Indian government, domestic universities, and institutions and companies from Indonesia, Canada, Germany and the United States, including a pathfinder satellite for Google’s Terra Bella Earth observation division. The PSLV launched at 0356 GMT Wednesday (11:56 p.m. EDT Tuesday) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, India’s primary spaceport situated on Sriharikota Island on the country’s eastern coastline. Launch occurred at 9:26 a.m. local time in India.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 23)

COUNTDOWN FOR LAUNCH OF CARTOSAT-2 ROCKET WITH 19 SATELLITES BEGINS - The countdown for the launch of Cartosat-2 series and 19 other satellites on Wednesday morning is progressing smoothly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. The satellites' health is being checked and the preparations for the filling of the fuel for the second rocket's second stage/engine is under progress, the ISRO said on Tuesday. "The countdown is progressing normally," it said. On Wednesday at 9.26 a.m., Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will lift off from the rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh with 20 satellites.    More
(Source: Economic Times - Jun 22)

UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE SET FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH - A satellite launch from Florida's Space Coast on Friday will complete a constellation meant to improve communications for U.S. soldiers. The satellite will be sent up on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, marking the fifth and final piece of the U.S. Navy's Mobile Unit Objective System. The Boeing-Lockheed Martin partnership is scheduled to launch at 10:29 a.m. and will essentially create a global cellular network that improves ground communications. The MUOS is a network of satellites, ground stations and software that improves communication for U.S. forces around the world.   More
(Source: Orlando Sentinel - Jun 22)

WEATHER FORECAST LOOKS GOOD FOR FRIDAY’S ATLAS 5 ROCKET LAUNCH - Air Force meteorologists are giving good odds of acceptable weather conditions for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to fly Friday morning from Cape Canaveral to put a Navy mobile communications satellite into orbit. Liftoff from Complex 41 is scheduled during a 44-minute window stretching from 10:30 to 11:14 a.m. EDT (1430-1514 GMT). In their initial launch weather outlook issued this morning, forecasters are concerned only about cumulus clouds. They say thunderstorms won’t fire up until after the launch window ends.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 21)

IN ISRO'S RECORD SPACE LAUNCH, GOOGLE-MADE SATELLITE FINDS A PLACE - In a first, Indian space agency ISRO is set to place into Earth's orbit a hi-tech satellite made by a Google company as part of a record-making 20-satellite launch scheduled for Wednesday from Sriharikota. On its 36th launch, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will fly 20 satellites into space at a cost about 10 times less than other space agencies. As a mark of the India-US friendship, ISRO or the Indian Space Research Organisation will launch 13 American-made small satellites into space.    More
(Source: NDTV - Jun 21)

CHINA PREPARES ASSEMBLY OF ITS SPACE STATION, INVITES COLLABORATION THROUGH U.N. - The Chinese government has agreed to help finance non-Chinese payloads and experiments to be operated from China’s future space station through the United Nations as part of its attempt to internationalize the program, a senior Chinese space official told the U.N. The official said China is on track to inaugurate its fourth spaceport, the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, in the coming weeks with the launch of the first Long March 7 rocket. Wenchang is located at 9 degrees north latitude, which is the southernmost point on Chinese territory. Under the current schedule, a TianGong-2 orbiting laboratory module would be launched in September aboard a Long March 5B rocket to test technologies that will be needed for the space station.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 21)

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