NASA TV TO AIR RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP MOVEMENT AT SPACE STATION - A Russian cargo ship currently docked to the International Space Station will undock for a short test flight on Friday, July 1. NASA Television coverage will begin at 1:15 a.m. EDT. The Progress 62 cargo ship will automatically undock from the Pirs Docking Compartment of the space station and manually be guided in to re-dock. The maneuver will begin with undocking at 1:36 a.m. and take approximately 30 minutes, with re-docking planned for 2:10 a.m.    More
(Source: Southgate Amateur Radio Club - Jun 26)

CHINA’S NEW LONG MARCH 7 ROCKET SUCCESSFUL ON FIRST FLIGHT - The new kerosene-fueled Long March 7 rocket rocket, developed to become a workhorse for a planned Chinese space station and the country’s clandestine military space program, flew into orbit Saturday on its inaugural flight from a launch base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Burning a combination of rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, six YF-100 engines on the Long March 7’s core stage and boosters lit with a flash of orange light and climbed away from a new launch pad at 1200 GMT (8 a.m. EDT; 8 p.m. Beijing time) Saturday, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, the Chinese space program’s state-owned prime contractor.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 26)

INDIA LAUNCHES AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITES - The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched several satellites carrying Amateur Radio payloads. Satellites put into orbit include Swayam-1, a 1U CubeSat that carries a digital store-and-forward messaging system for use by the Amateur Radio community. “We are eagerly waiting for your reception report of the CW beacon at 437.025 MHz. You can also get the decoded beacon data by entering ‘beacon’ in Swayam beacon signal decoder available on our website,” said Rupesh Lad, VU2LRD/VU2COE of the College of Engineering Pune CSAT team.   More
(Source: ARRL - Jun 26)

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LAUNCH A SATELLITE? - Over the past several months, we've spent a lot of time running down the list of the several space companies that send satellites into orbit: Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), SpaceX and Blue Origin, Arianespace in Europe, and even tiny Vector Space Systems here at home. Perhaps the most striking thing about this industry, though, is that while all of these companies are going to the same place, and they use similar vehicles to get there, the prices they charge for the trip are very different indeed. Why is this important? Look at it from your own perspective. Say you want to travel from Point A to Point B today.    More
(Source: Motley Fool - Jun 25)

NASA UPGRADES THE INTERNET CONNECTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - It is no secret that NASA is ahead in most developments in the field of science, most especially when it involves enhancements in outer space. This time, the space agency has made significant steps forward in establishing a Solar System Internet. This system is meant to make the gathering of information between stations, whether ground or space, more efficient. Science World Report shares that NASA is doing so by setting up an operational Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) service on the International Space Station (ISS).   More
(Source: iTech Post - Jun 25)

NAVY SATELLITE SAILS TO ORBIT ATOP ATLAS 5 ROCKET FOR COMMUNICATIONS GRID - The constellation-building Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance successfully deployed the fifth communications spacecraft for the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System today to form a new rugged smartphone network for the U.S. military. “MUOS is a revolutionary system in its infancy,” said Navy Commander Peter Sheehy, principal assistant program manager of MUOS. “Five years from now, we’ll be wondering how we ever operated without it.” The Atlas 5 heaved the massive payload into the proper orbit to complete the launch series, flying straight and true just like the four previous MUOS missions since 2012.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 25)

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)

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