WITH RUSSIAN LAUNCH GROUNDED, IRIDIUM FLIPS ORDER OF SATELLITE DEPLOYMENTS - Stymied by Russian government dithering that has indefinitely grounded a test launch on a modified Soviet-era missile, Iridium officials say that SpaceX agreed to move forward to July the first of seven Falcon 9 launches from California with the company’s next-generation mobile communications satellites. Iridium originally planned to start launching the Iridium Next satellite fleet before the end of 2015 with the liftoff of two pathfinder spacecraft on a Dnepr rocket from Russia. But a faulty component in each satellite’s Ka-band communications payload had to be replaced last year, delaying the first Iridium Next launch aboard Dnepr until April.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 1)

INSIDE THE GIGANTIC OPERATION TO MEET ASTRONAUTS COMING HOME - There’s an ocean of space between low-Earth orbit and the dunes of Mars. And there’s a galaxy of truth between the real-world experiences of space station crew members Scott Kelly, Misha Kornienko and Sergei Volkov, and the made-up story of astronaut Mark Watney in the blockbuster book and movie The Martian. But there’s something powerful, and wonderful, they share. “Every human being has a basic instinct—to help each other out,” says the voiceover in the movie’s trailer. “If a hiker gets lost in the woods, people coordinate a search. If an earthquake levels the city, people all over the world send emergency supplies. This instinct is found in every culture. Without exception.”   More
(Source: TIME - Mar 1)

INDIA TO LAUNCH ITS OWN NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM - Senior space scientist Prabhakar J. Bhat has said that India will end its dependence on the U.S. for operating the global positioning system (GPS) with the launch of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) in July. Interacting with school and college students here as part of the National Science Day by the Karnataka State Science Parishat and the Prouda Devaraya Pre University Science College on Sunday, he said that all the countries were depending on the GPS satellite launched by the U.S. now.   More
(Source: The Hindu - Feb 29)

FALCON 9 GROUNDED AGAIN AFTER LAST-SECOND ABORT - A commercial communications satellite stayed on Earth after a last-second launch abort Sunday, the third time in five days that SpaceX has scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. Sunday’s countdown got closer to launch than the rocket’s earlier tries, coming within a moment of liftoff before computers detected a problem and aborted the flight at engine start. SpaceX did not set a new date for the launch of the SES 9 communications satellite, but the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing — owner of the Cape Canaveral launch range — indicated the flight would not take off until at least Tuesday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 29)

THIS IS THE FIRST FACE ASTRONAUTS WILL SEE AFTER A YEAR IN SPACE - In the event you ever find yourself returning to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, there are surely a lot of faces you’ll want to see when you land. The first one you will see, however, will belong to Sergei Georgievich Malikhov. And you should be very, very glad about that. Malikhov, 60, is head of search and rescue operations for Energia RSC—the Russian company that builds both the Soyuz spacecraft and the Soyuz rocket—and is the incongruously jolly, incongruously grandfatherly man to whom a SWAT team-like force of helicopter pilots, all-terrain vehicle drivers and rescue workers are answerable on reentry days in the Kazakh steppe.    More
(Source: TIME - Feb 29)

ALL THE SPACE MISSIONS YOU SHOULD BE HYPED FOR THIS YEAR - This year is filled with important test flights, as private companies like SpaceX get new orbital rockets and vehicles ready for space travel. Space tourism ventures like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will continue testing their sub-orbital vehicles too, which could potentially take paying customers into the upper limits of the atmosphere. And if crewed spaceflight isn't your thing, there are also a couple robotic missions to Jupiter and Mars that will satisfy your planetary curiosity.   More
(Source: The Verge - Feb 29)

CHINA PRESSES AHEAD WITH SPACE AMBITIONS - China announced Sunday it was sending its second space lab into orbit later this year, followed by a manned spacecraft that will dock with it. Tiangong-2, or "Heavenly Palace-2," will be the second Chinese space lab deployed above earth in five years. If the launch is successful, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft will go up with two astronauts on board and try to connect with Tiangong-2 while in orbit, a statement from the office of the China Manned Space Program said. But before that, the country will test launch the Long March 7, a rocket it's developing to carry a cargo spacecraft to the Tiangong-2 in early 2017.   More
(Source: CNN - Feb 29)

RUSSIAN CROWDFUNDED SATELLITE SET TO BECOME THE NIGHT SKY'S BRIGHTEST STAR - A team of aerospace engineers and enthusiasts from Moscow's University of Mechanical Engineering (MAMI) are putting the finishing touches to their 'Mayak,' or 'Beacon' satellite, and have raised enough money for the next stage of the spacecraft's testing before it is launched into space by the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket. On Thursday the Mayak team announced they have managed to raise 1.5 million rubles ($19,650) on the Boomstarter crowdfunding platform, which allows them to complete the next stage of the satellite's flight testing.    More
(Source: Sputnik International - Feb 28)

CHINA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST MICRO-GRAVITY SATELLITE IN APRIL - China is set to launch its first micro-gravity experimental satellite in April, a media report said on Friday. The Shijian-10 satellite arrived at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest Gansu province on Wednesday, ahead of its scheduled launch, the People's Daily reported. The Shijian-10 is the first micro-gravity experimental satellite in China designed for conducting scientific experiments in space, says Li Chunhua, deputy chief designer of the Shijian-10. It will perform a total of 19 experiments involving micro-gravity, micro-gravity combustion, space material, space radiation effects and space biotechnology during its 15-day mission.   More
(Source: NDTV - Feb 27)

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