SPACEX ROCKET MISSES LANDING AT SEA AFTER SUCCESSFUL SATELLITE LAUNCH - After a series of delays, a SpaceX rocket soared into space to successfully deliver a commercial satellite into orbit, but couldn't quite manage to stick the landing during an audacious attempt to touch down on a drone ship at sea. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off in a brilliant launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida tonight, March 4, at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT). It's mission: Deliver the SES-9 commerical communications satellite into orbit for its Luxembourg-based customer SES. That part went fine, with the SES-9 satellite separating as planned from the Falcon 9 rocket and heading off toward its final orbit. The rocket landing, however, less so.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 5)

TV BROADCASTING SATELLITE FINALLY LAUNCHED ON FALCON 9 - Powering off the planet just after sunset Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral with the multi-mission SES 9 communications satellite to link millions of homes, businesses, ships and airplanes across the Asia-Pacific. The commercial telecom station, to be positioned nearly 22,300 miles (about 36,000 kilometers) over the equator, weathered four previous launch attempts since Feb. 24, grounded by problems with the Falcon 9’s super-chilled liquid oxygen propellant, a boat that strayed into offshore waters, and pesky upper level winds. A rush of steam and orange-hot rocket exhaust from the Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D main engines signaled the start of a 31-minute trip into orbit at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT).    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 5)

USAF WEATHER WOES GROW AS DMSP-19 STOPS OBEYING ORDERS - NOAA satellite operators unexpectedly lost the ability to command one of the Air Force’s primary weather satellites on Feb. 11 and now officials from both organizations are racing to determine if the spacecraft can return to service, officials told SpaceNews. The satellite, known as the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 19, is used to help weather forecasters predict fog, thunderstorms and hurricanes that could impact military operations. Launched in April 2014, the spacecraft is the Air Force’s newest weather satellite on orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 4)

FIRST FINNISH SATELLITE SET FOR LIFT-OFF - The first Finnish satellite is a milk carton-sized device created by students at Finnish universities. It’s a new type of ‘nanosatellite’ that brings down the cost of space exploration, and is set to enter orbit in May or June. Finland’s first satellite is set to enter orbit this year as part of a new wave of ‘nanosatellites’ that have dramatically reduced the cost of putting a satellite into orbit. The satellite, which is named ‘Aalto-1’, will be launched by the American SpaceX company.   More
(Source: YLE News - Mar 4)

ISRAELI START-UP JOINS TECH RACE TO PROVIDE GLOBAL WIFI - Israeli start-up Skyfi is looking to outflank Facebook and Google in a race to provide world-wide internet access by developing the first self-correcting antenna that can turn mini-satellites into powerful transmitters covering the globe. The two technology giants are working on ways to beam internet access from the sky to remote areas - Google with high-flying balloons and Facebook with a combination of drones and larger, more complex satellites. But it will take an orbiting cluster of 60 miniature, or nano, satellites, each about the size of a shoe box, to provide full coverage of earth, said Raz Itzhaki Tamir, a veteran of Israel's aerospace industry who started Skyfi four years ago.   More
(Source: Jerusalem Post - Mar 3)

INTRODUCING SPACE.COM'S NEW SATELLITE TRACKER FROM N2YO - Ever wonder when the International Space Station or Hubble Space Telescope will pass by in their multiple daily orbits? Space.com is introducing a new satellite tracker powered by N2YO.com to answer that question for many of the diverse cast of space stations, observational satellites and military orbiters that trace paths through the sky above. Satellites are predictable, but the complex algorithms needed to plot their locations are too slow to work in real time in a Web browser, said Ciprian Sufitchi, the tracker's creator.    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 3)

VANCOUVER SOFTWARE ENGINEER'S SHOEBOX-SIZED SATELLITE TO JOIN UFO HUNT - A team of UFO hunters, including a Vancouver software engineer, is on a high-tech mission to find out whether we’re alone in the universe. Dave Cote, a Simon Fraser University alumnus, is project manager and software engineer for “CubeSat for Disclosure,” which involves sending a CubeSat — a small, private satellite — into low-earth orbit. The seven-person team plans to use the CubeSat to search for “any sign of a real UFO or any space anomaly,” according to the project’s Kickstarter campaign page.   More
(Source: The Province - Mar 3)

CHINA TO CONDUCT OVER 20 SATELLITE LAUNCHES THIS YEAR - China plans to conduct more than 20 satellite launch missions in 2016, which positions China to exceed launches by the US, an official from the country's Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said on Monday. Among them, a total of 15 launches are significant projects or first flights, People's Daily quoted the official as saying. The country will send several rockets in space, including Tiangong-2, an orbiting space lab and Shenzhou-11, a manned spacecraft with two people on board.   More
(Source: NDTV - Mar 2)

SPACEX DELAYS FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH TO FRIDAY - SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket continues to sit on a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after the company scrubbed its fourth launch attempt on Tuesday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that upper-level winds were to blame, making Friday the next available opportunity to launch the SES-9 communications satellite from Launch Complex 40. "Hits like a sledgehammer when going up supersonic," Musk said to describe what a rocket would face in those conditions. A specific launch window for the fifth attempt was not discussed.   More
(Source: Florida Today - Mar 2)

Previous Next