MSU RESEARCH SATELLITE DESTROYED IN ROCKET LAUNCH TUESDAY - An experimental U.S. military rocket failed shortly after launch from Hawaii Tuesday night destroying all 13 small research satellites aboard, including one developed in part at Montana State University. The U. S Navy did not say what went wrong with the launch Tuesday evening, but the website Spaceflight Now reported that videos of the flight showed the 67-foot Super Strypi rocket that carried the satellites veered out of control and broke apart about a minute after liftoff from the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. More (Source: Montana State University - Nov 5)
CHINESE LONG MARCH 3B ROCKET PUTS CHINASAT-2C COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - China launched a new communications satellite designated ChinaSat-2C, or Zhongxing-2C on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Liftoff of the Long March 3B rocket and its precious cargo, took place at 12:25 p.m. EDT (16:25 GMT). The launch was conducted from the Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center located in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. As was the case with numerous prior Chinese launches, the liftoff was not announced earlier by the media or government officials. The launch was slated for November but the exact date wasn’t revealed. More (Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Nov 5)
HAWAII ROCKET CARRYING SATELLITE FAILS AFTER TAKEOFF - Hawaii’s first satellite crashed back down to Earth shortly after liftoff when a rocket failed. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Air Force confirmed the failure of the Super Strypi rocket at Kauai's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Tuesday. The rocket is designed to be a cost-effective method of launching smaller payloads. The University of Hawaii is investigating the cause the failure. More (Source: Fox News - Nov 5)
AAUSAT5 COMMUNICATES WITH STUDENTS ON EARTH - With the help of amateur radio operators, Aalborg University engineering students have established two-way communication with their home-built, ESA-sponsored satellite AAUSAT5. The European Space Agency (ESA) report: "AAUSAT5 was launched from the International Space Station on October 5, 2015. Following initial difficulties in establishing a two way communication link with the satellite from the control centre in Aalborg and attempts to improve the ground station performance, the investigation revealed that the northern location of Aalborg, relative to the satellite’s orbit, was a contributor to the communication issue. Therefore the project team reached out to ham operators in more southern locations in Europe for help." More (Source: AMSAT UK - Nov 5)
ISS ASTRONAUTS LINK-UP WITH ITU WRC-15 IN GENEVA - The ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) is taking place in Geneva from November 2-27. On Tuesday, November 3 at 1241 UT there was an amateur radio link-up between WRC-15 and two astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). The contact took place using the permanent amateur radio station at the ITU. The station’s normal call sign is 4U1ITU but during the conference the special call sign 4U1WRC is being used. More (Source: AMSAT-UK - Nov 4)
HAWAII’S FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCH SET FOR TUESDAY - U.S. military authorities have granted approval for liftoff Tuesday of a simplified satellite launcher from Hawaii on a test flight officials say will help drive down the costs of sending small spacecraft into orbit. Standing 67 feet tall and measuring 5 feet in diameter, the Super Strypi launch vehicle is based on a Cold War-era suborbital sounding rocket design, but with modern propulsion and a purpose-built launch pad at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 4)
STUDENTS WORK WITH NASA TO LAUNCH ELFIN SATELLITE INTO SPACE - Student researchers carried wrench sets, solar panels and other satellite parts as they boarded planes to Virginia this summer and early fall, in preparation for launch simulation tests on their satellite. A UCLA student research group conducted successful experiments that simulated launch forces on the satellite, called the Electron Losses and Fields Investigation, or ELFIN, which intends to predict weather conditions in space. A joint grant between NASA and the National Science Foundation from May 2014 funds the project and guarantees the satellite a launch opportunity. More (Source: Daily Bruin - Nov 3)
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CELEBRATES 15TH BIRTHDAY - The International Space Station has plenty to celebrate. Not only did astronaut Scott Kelly set the American record for continuous days in space last week but the space station where he resides turned 15 on Monday. The first station crew docked Nov. 2, 2000 and Commander William Shepherd and Flight Engineers Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko spent 141 days in space. NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24 flight engineer, looks through a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station. A blue and white part of Earth and the blackness of space are visible through the windows. Expand / Contract NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24 flight engineer, looks through a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station. A blue and white part of Earth and the blackness of space are visible through the windows. (NASA) “I believe the station should be considered the blueprint for peaceful global cooperation. More (Source: Fox News - Nov 3)
CHINA TO LAUNCH RETRIEVABLE SATELLITE TO PROBE DARK MATTER - China will launch a series of scientific satellites including a retrievable one to probe 'dark matter' later this year, officials said today. The development of four scientific satellites is going well, National Space Science Centre's director Wu Ji under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said at an event to mark the 10th anniversary of cooperation between China's Double Star space mission and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Cluster mission to investigate the earth's magnetosphere. The first of the series, the dark matter particle explorer, will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at the end of this year. More (Source: NDTV - Nov 2)
Previous Next
