CHINA LAUNCHES 22ND BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITE - China launched a satellite to support its global navigation and positioning network at 4:11 a.m. Wednesday. The satellite, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was taken into orbit by a Long March-3A carrier rocket. It is the 22nd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), which is being developed as an alternative to U.S. GPS. It was the 225th launch of the Long March carrier rocket.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Mar 30)

ISRO SET TO LAUNCH 22 SATELLITES ON ONE ROCKET - When the PSLV C34 rocket blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Srikarikota in May this year, it will signal another giant leap for India’s space mission. The trusted launch vehicle will inject 22 satellites into orbit, a first in the history of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Apart from the Indian remote sensing satellite, Cartosat 2C, which constitutes the primary payload, the rocket will carry on board four micro-satellites weighing 85 to 130 kg each and 17 nano-satellites weighing 4 to 30 kg. As many as 18 satellites are being launched for foreign agencies including those from the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Indonesia.    More
(Source: The Hindu - Mar 29)

ADVANCED RESEARCH SATELLITE MAY BE LOST IN SPACE - Japan's space agency says communication has failed with a newly launched, innovative satellite with X-ray telescopes meant to study black holes and other space mysteries. The agency said in a statement Sunday that since the problem began Saturday afternoon, it hasn't known the condition of the satellite, called "Hitomi." It's trying to reconnect with the satellite, which was launched on Feb. 17. The Japan Times newspaper says a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency official, Saku Tsuneta, said that he didn't know yet if communications could be re-established. The paper said astronomy observations can't start this summer as expected if the problem continues.   More
(Source: CBS News - Mar 29)

SPACE STATION FLIES OVER ROMAN RUINS IN STUNNING SKYWATCHER PHOTO - The International Space Station flies over the ancient Roman city of Ammaia (in modern day Portugal) in this stunning skywatcher image. This image was taken by astrophotographer Miguel Claro in the summer of 2015. Claro took the image at "one of the remaining ruins from the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia," he told Space.com in an email. "At the right side of the moon it is visible the planet Venus." The International Space Station is a microgravity laboratory and a facility for astronomical, environmental and geological research. The station flies at an average altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 29)

COMMUNICATION LINK WITH JAPAN'S X-RAY ASTRONOMY SATELLITE LOST: JAXA - Japan's space agency said Sunday it has experienced trouble communicating with a newly launched X-ray astronomy satellite since Saturday afternoon, making it difficult for the agency to ascertain its condition. The "Hitomi" satellite, which was called the "Astro-H" until its successful launch on a Japanese rocket in mid-February, could be experiencing a power shortage after an unexpected shift in its posture may have made it unable to draw on solar power, it said. The satellite is supposed to be orbiting about 580 kilometers above the Earth's surface, but the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the satellite may also have deviated from its normal path.   More
(Source: Kyodo News - Mar 28)

IT’S NOT AN EMAIL SCAM, PEOPLE, NIGERIA REALLY IS SENDING AN ASTRONAUT INTO SPACE - This week, Nigeria said it would send an astronaut into space by the year 2030. The news was not, as you may have suspected, an update of a widely circulated scam on Facebook which claimed a Nigerian astronaut was lost in space. Instead Nigeria’s science and technology minister Ogbonnaya Onu said Nigeria would join the growing league of space faring nations, which now includes India, China, Japan, Canada, Russia, the United States, and the 22 member states of the European Space Agency. As an author who has written about the Nigerian space program in fact and in fiction, two strange aspects of this announcement struck me. The first is that, technically, Nigeria already sent a person into space.   More
(Source: Quartz - Mar 28)

FIRST PHILIPPINE SATELLITE REACHES SPACE STATION - The US commercial spacecraft Cygnus carrying the Philippines’ first microsatellite Diwata-1 has successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS) and is now being unloaded of its 7,500-pound payload. Carlos Primo David, executive director of the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), said the unloading of the cargo of the Cygnus, which includes Diwata-1, would take two weeks. David said they would ask the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for footage of the unloading. He said the deployment into orbit of Diwata-1 was scheduled on April 20 or 21.   More
(Source: Philippine Star - Mar 28)

SPACE STATION DELIVERY: 7,500 POUNDS OF GROCERIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR EXPERIMENTS - The six astronauts at the International Space Station got an early Easter treat this weekend with the arrival of a supply ship full of fresh food and experiments. Instead of the usual bunny, Saturday's delivery came via a swan — Orbital ATK's Cygnus capsule, named after the swan constellation. The cargo carrier rocketed away from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday night. NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra used the station's big robot arm to grab the capsule, as the two craft soared 250 miles above the Indian Ocean. "Excellent work, gentlemen," Mission Control radioed.   More
(Source: Christian Science Monitor - Mar 27)

TRAVELING CYGNUS PULLS INTO PORT AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used the robotic arm to snare a commercial cargo ship and bring it aboard this morning while traveling at five miles per second. The Orbital ATK Cygnus freighter, dubbed the S.S. Rick Husband, was captured at 6:51 a.m. EDT (1051 GMT) by Expedition 47 commander and arm operator Tim Kopra floating in the station’s multi-window Cupola. “Cygnus capture is complete,” Kopra radioed to Mission Control in Houston as the spacecraft flew 252 miles above the southern Indian Ocean. “Houston copies. Excellent work gentlemen. Much appreciated. Made that look easy,” replied Jeremy Hansen, Canadian Space Agency astronaut serving as CAPCOM in Mission Control.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 26)

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