PROGRESS SUPPLY SHIP DOCKS WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A Russian refueling and resupply freighter docked with the International Space Station on Saturday after a two-day pursuit with maneuvering propellants, food and provisions for the research lab’s crew. The Progress MS-02 supply ship, flying with upgrades to its command and control and navigation systems, sailed to an automated linkup with the space station’s Zvezda service module at 1758 GMT (1:58 p.m. EDT) Saturday as the vehicles flew more than 250 miles over Astana, Kazakhstan. Five minutes later, hooks and latches engaged to create a firm connection between the Zvezda module’s aft docking port and the Progress spacecraft.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 3)

PHOTOS: PROGRESS SUPPLY LAUNCH VIEWED FROM SPACE STATION - Astronauts living on the International Space Station captured amazing views of a Soyuz rocket streaking into orbit from Kazakhstan with nearly 3 tons of supplies destined for the massive research complex. Sailing more than 250 miles over Central Asia, the station crew recorded photos of the Soyuz rocket speeding above cities and barren badlands downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it blasted off at 1623:57 GMT (12:23:57 p.m. EDT). The Progress MS-02 cargo craft separated from the Soyuz rocket’s third stage about 8 minutes, 45 seconds later. Docking with the outpost’s Zvezda service module is set for approximately 1800 GMT (2 p.m. EDT) Saturday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 2)

PENTAGON FOCUSES ON IN-ORBIT SATELLITE INSPECTIONS AND REPAIRS - The Pentagon’s research arm has kicked off a major effort to partner with industry to repair spacecraft in high-earth orbit, highlighting escalating worries about potential cyberattacks targeting both military and commercial satellites. With a projected federal investment of about $500 million over the next few years, slated to be matched by hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate funding, it represents the most ambitious bid yet to develop and deploy a fleet of unmanned space vehicles capable of inspecting, fixing and even repurposing satellites as they circle Earth.   More
(Source: Wall Street Journal - Apr 1)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ROBOTIC SUPPLY SHIP TOWARD SPACE STATION - An unmanned Russian cargo ship packed with 3 tons of supplies launched toward the International Space Station Thursday (March 31), beginning a two-day orbital delivery flight. The Progress 63P spaceship is the third vehicle to launch to the space station in the past three weeks, and the second cargo craft to launch there in nine days. The ship's cargo includes 1,940 lbs. (880 kilograms) of propellant, 110 lbs. (50 kg) of oxygen, 926 lbs. (420 kg) of water and 3,161 lbs. (1,434 kg) of dry cargo, NASA officials said. The craft blasted off at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and was quickly concealed by a cloudy sky as it accelerated upward.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 31)

LIFT-OFF! CROWDFUNDING STARTS FOR UNIQUE SELF-DESTRUCTING RUSSIAN SATELLITE - A Moscow-based team of physicists and engineers has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $45,000 required to assemble a unique satellite, which will shine brighter than most stars and leave no space debris once it stops operating. The satellite will be exceptionally bright as once it reaches orbit it will extend an ultra-shiny, pyramid-shaped solar reflector, the Kickstarter description says. The pyramid will be 16 sq meters in size and made of “air-thin film that is 20 times thinner than human hair.”   More
(Source: RT - Mar 31)

AIR FORCE ENDS EFFORT TO RECOVER DMSP WEATHER SATELLITE - Attempts to restore the U.S. Air Force’s newest weather satellite to service have ended, a military spokesperson said Wednesday, cutting a planned five-year mission short less than two years after it launched. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 19, or DMSP F19, spacecraft stopped responding to commands from mission control Feb. 11, and engineers have concluded that a power anomaly inside the satellite is responsible for the weather observatory’s failure. Ground controllers have ceased all recovery efforts with the DMSP F19 satellite, according to Jennifer Thibault, a spokesperson for the Air Force’s 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 31)

BEAM INFLATABLE HABITAT TO LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION NEXT WEEK - An inflatable room that will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to launch toward the orbiting laboratory next week. The room, known as Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), was built by Bigelow Aerospace, a private company that has built other expandable space habitats in the past and has plans to continue to do so. BEAM will be the first such room to be tested on the ISS, and the first to be (briefly) occupied by astronauts. BEAM will not be a fully functional addition to the space station. However, astronauts will enter it for a few hours at a time — about four times a year for two years, Bigelow representatives said in a NASA media teleconference yesterday (March 28).    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 31)

JAPANESE SPACE PROBE WAS SMASHED INTO FIVE PIECES - The Japanese space agency has been able to capture signals from lost X-ray satellite Hitomi, but the probe appears to have broken up into pieces. JAXA lost contact with Hitomi, or ASTRO-H, on Saturday, when the satellite was due to start operations. Since then, the agency has managed to get two signals from the space probe, one at around 8am EST on Monday and the other at 10.30am EST on Tuesday. However, JAXA still doesn’t know what happened to the satellite or if it can be salvaged. “JAXA has not been able to figure out the state of its health, as the time frames for receiving the signals were very short,” the agency said in a statement.   More
(Source: Forbes - Mar 31)

HAS TIANGONG 1 GONE ROGUE - China's announcement in late March that telemetry to the Tiangong 1 space laboratory had ceased is disturbing. The language used in the original Xinhua story was vague, but strongly suggested that Tiangong 1 had malfunctioned. This analyst has waited more than a week for a correction, clarification, or resumption of telemetry to be announced by China. That hasn't happened. We can safely conclude that Tiangong 1 has truly fallen silent. Without telemetry, China will be unable to receive data from Tiangong's scientific instruments. More disturbingly, it seems highly probable that China will be unable to control the laboratory. Tiangong 1 is now a rogue spacecraft.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Mar 31)

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