PROTON ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH RUSSIAN-EUROPEAN COMSAT - A Proton rocket lifted off from Kazakhstan on Thursday with a large European-built telecommunications satellite to broadcast television, radio and other services across Russia and sub-Saharan Africa. The 191-foot-tall (58-meter) Proton booster launched at 2131:19 GMT (4:31:19 p.m. EST) Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a sprawling spaceport in Kazakhstan leased by the Russian government. The launch was delayed from Wednesday due to adverse weather, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.   More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Dec 26)

ASTRONAUT TIM PEAKE APOLOGIZES FOR DIALING WRONG NUMBER FROM SPACE STATION - An astronaut on the International Space Station made a technical error on Christmas Eve — but it was nothing a quick tweet couldn't fix. "I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake," astronaut Tim Peake wrote on Thursday. Apparently Peake had opened the call by greeting the person on the other line by saying: "Hello, is this planet Earth?"    More
(Source: NBCNews.com - Dec 26)

SPACE STATION PLAYS SANTA'S SLEIGH FOR KIDS IN UK - Good boys and girls -- and their kids -- watched Santa's sleigh (better known to grownups as the International Space Station) fly over the United Kingdom on Christmas Eve, thanks in part to a timely tip from the nation's weather service. "As excited children everywhere wait with anticipation for Father Christmas, why not take a look up into the night sky on Christmas Eve and see if you can spot him, (or rather, the ISS)," the Met Office wrote in a statement on their website days before Thursday's much-anticipated appearance.    More
(Source: CNN - Dec 25)

SPACE X'S JASON-3 SATELLITE LAUNCH LOOKS LIKE IT'S HAPPENING - Between that successful landing the other night and news that the oft-delayed Jason-3 satellite's launch preparations keep progressing toward its scheduled departure, Space X CEO Elon Musk likely has some added spring to his step going into Christmas. If you'll remember, work on the ocean-studying satellite stopped after this summer's fumbled launch. With news that the first-and-second stage boosters will be mated come December 28th, however, the launch scheduled for January 17th looks pretty realistic. NASA writes that the next orders of business are tucking the spacecraft into the Falcon 9's payload fairing come January 9th, with a connection to the rocket's second stage three days later.   More
(Source: Engadget - Dec 25)

PROTON TO LAUNCH EKSPRESS-AMU1 - Concluding Russia's orbital launch attempts of 2015, a Proton rocket is scheduled to carry Russia's latest communications satellite into geostationary orbit. The liftoff of the Ekspress-AMU1 satellite is set for the early hours of Dec. 25, 2015, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The mission will be the eight and final for Proton's tumultuous year.   More
(Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 24)

THALES AND AIRBUS TO SUPPLY FRENCH MILITARY SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS - The French defense procurement agency has contracted Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defense and Space to construct their next generation of military communication satellites. The Comsat NG contract covers two military communications satellites for the French armed forces. Once completed, the satellites will be launched to replace the aging Syracuse 3A and Syracuse 3B, which were launched in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The new satellites are scheduled to enter service in 2021.   More
(Source: UPI.com - Dec 24)

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS: RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP MAKES SPACE STATION DELIVERY - A robotic Russian cargo ship made it to the International Space Station just in time for Christmas. Russia's uncrewed Progress 62 freighter docked with an Earth-facing port on the orbiting lab today (Dec. 23) at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT), two days after blasting off atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The six astronauts currently living aboard the space station will soon begin unloading the 2.8 tons (2.5 metric tons) of supplies that Progress 62 carried to space.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 24)

GEOSYNCHRONOUS HAM RADIO PAYLOAD TO AID DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS - Phys.org interviews Hume Center Director of Research Bob McGwier N4HY about a geosynchronous satellite amateur radio payload which will aid disaster communications. Researchers at the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology are preparing to send an amateur radio transponder into a geosynchronous orbit in 2017. “Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a new ham band will be available for the Americas,” said Robert McGwier, a research professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Hume Center’s director of research. “It will allow rapid deployment to disaster areas and support long-haul communications for first responders.”   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Dec 23)

TIM PEAKE SENDS CHRISTMAS VIDEO MESSAGE FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Major Tim Peake and his fellow astronauts have posted a festive message from the International Space Station to friends and family back home on Earth. Colonel Tim Kopra commented: “First off we would like to say how much of a privilege it is to serve on the International Space Station, and how grateful we are to the teams on the ground that support our flying here, as well as all the sciences on board this laboratory.”   More
(Source: The Independent - Dec 23)

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