SECOND EU RADAR SENTINEL SATELLITE LAUNCHES - The European Space Agency has launched a second radar satellite into the EU's new Sentinel constellation. Sentinel-1b was carried into orbit by a Soyuz rocket that flew out of Sinamary in French Guiana. The new platform will monitor shipping lanes for pollution and icebergs, and survey land surfaces for evidence of subsidence - to name just three of the myriad applications for radar imagery. Sentinel-1b will work alongside the 1a spacecraft, which was launched in 2014. Operating in the same orbit but separated by 180 degrees, the pair will be able to map the entire Earth every six days.   More
(Source: BBC News - Apr 25)

WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION GOES KAPUT IN 2024, WHAT COMES NEXT? - Moving day is fast approaching. Sometime in 2023 or 2024, the Russians have said they will abandon the International Space Station. Assuming they carry through on this plan, detaching their modules from ISS and using them to build an all-Russian station, the station could soon become uninhabitable. That's then, however. For now, the International Space Station is still growing -- thanks to Bigelow Aerospace. Last week, a SpaceX rocket (yes, the same one that just landed on a boat) delivered to ISS its first-ever Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).   More
(Source: Motley Fool - Apr 25)

SOYUZ LAUNCH DELAYED FOR THIRD DAY IN A ROW - Liftoff of a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana was delayed again Sunday due to a technical problem with the booster discovered in the countdown sequence. The Soyuz is supposed to launch with five satellites, including the next spacecraft for Europe’s multibillion-dollar Earth observing network and a French experiment to probe the validity of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 24)

SUITSAT MIGHT BE THE CREEPIEST SATELLITE EVER - On February 3, 2006, commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev stepped outside the ISS for a spacewalk. Cameras gave audiences watching the live feed on NASA TV a view of the men working, half obscured by solar panels. Then the cameras showed a body floating off into space. Tokarev nonchalantly bid adieu to his untethered colleague with an unceremonious “Goodbye, Mr. Smith.” The figure might have looked like a man, but it wasn’t. It was Suitsat, which is perhaps the creepiest satellite of all time. The story of Suitsat can’t be told without the story of the Orlan spacesuit.   More
(Source: Popular Science - Apr 24)

BE THE FIRST TO CATCH A SIGNAL FROM FLY YOUR SATELLITE! FROM SPACE - It is time to start listening to space. To celebrate the upcoming launch of the three Fly Your Satellite! student-built CubeSats into low Earth orbit, ESA’s Education office challenges the amateur radio community to listen out for the tiny satellites. The first three radio amateurs to send a recorded signal from either AAUSAT4, E-st@r-II or OUFTI-1 will receive a prize from ESA's Education Office. The satellites will be launched on 24 April onboard the Soyuz VS-14 flight from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.    More
(Source: ESA - Apr 24)

BAD WEATHER DELAYS SOYUZ LAUNCH FROM FRENCH GUIANA TO SUNDAY - Unfavorable high-altitude winds over the Soyuz launch pad in French Guiana have again forced officials to delay liftoff of five European satellites. The launch is now set for 2102:13 GMT (5:02:13 p.m. EDT) Sunday, assuming the conditions improve. High-altitude winds already delayed the launch from Friday. Launch managers from Russia and Arianespace want to avoid filling the Soyuz rocket with kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants if weather conditions are predicted to by iffy at launch time.    More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Apr 23)

SOYUZ ST-A LAUNCH WITH SENTINEL-1B MOVED TO SATURDAY - Russia’s Soyuz ST-A rocket launch with the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1B spacecraft and four small satellites has been moved to Saturday due to unacceptable weather for Friday’s attempt. In what will be the rocket’s first launch of the year from its South American launch site. Liftoff is scheduled for 18:02:13 local time (21:02 UTC). Soyuz operates from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, in Kourou, French Guiana as part of a trio of rockets operated by Arianespace – alongside the smaller Vega and the larger Ariane 5.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Apr 22)

FRENCH SATELLITE PUTS EINSTEIN TO THE TEST - A Russian rocket carrying a French satellite to test a German theory is scheduled for launch on Friday. At 21:02 GMT, the Soyuz rocket will blast off from Kourou, Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, carrying the experiment. Microscope, which stands for Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l’Observation du Principe d’Equivalence, is designed to test the very heart of Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity, which gives us our best description yet of gravity. Known as the principle of equivalence, it is derived from Galileo’s 17th century experiment to drop different masses from a tower to show that both hit the ground at the same time.    More
(Source: The Guardian - Apr 22)

CHINA TO LAUNCH 'CORE MODULE' FOR SPACE STATION AROUND 2018 - China will launch a "core module" for its first space station some time around 2018, a senior official told the state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday, part of a plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. Advancing China's space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power, and apart from its civilian ambitions Beijing has tested anti-satellite missiles. China insists its space program is for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.   More
(Source: Reuters - Apr 22)

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