SPACEX PROPOSING COST-EFFECTIVE REUSABLE ROCKETS - As India launches its first observatory in space and Europe places a probe on a comet, SpaceX is hoping to help the U.S. lead the space race with reusable rockets and the kind of raw power not seen since the glory days of the Saturn V. Earlier this year California-based enterprise SpaceX launched the Dragon, a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying unmanned cargo to the International Space Station. The company has hoped to land the rocket on a floating barge in the ocean but has yet to succeed. Aerospace sources told The Washington Times that SpaceX is aiming to launch again in November, but a representative for the company declined to comment.   More
(Source: Washington Times - Oct 6)

REMEMBERING SPUTNIK – THE SATELLITE THAT BEGAN THE SPACE RACE - 58 years ago a tiny satellite was successfully lofted into orbit, firing the opening salvo in what would become the Space Race. Sputnik-1 became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, a trailblazer for thousands of spacecraft that have since ridden uphill while providing the initiator of technological advances that allowed humans to leave the confines of our planet. The plan of chief Soviet rocket scientist Sergei Korolev, the concept for Sputnik-1 was presented in 1954, a year prior to President Eisenhower’s plans for the United States to launch an artificial satellite during the International Geophysical Year (IGY).   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Oct 5)

AMSAT-NA VP-ENGINEERING ON NASA TV WEDNESDAY - VP-Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY will be on the panel at a NASA prelaunch briefing on Wednesday, October 7 at 1800 UT. The briefing will be shown live on NASA TV. The amateur radio FM transponder CubeSat, AMSAT Fox-1A, will be among 13 CubeSats flying as secondary payloads on the NROL-55 mission which should launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Thursday, October 8, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA will be holding two briefings about the launch. The first on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 1700 UT (1pm EDT) will highlight the growing importance of CubeSats in exploration and technology development. The second at 1800 UT (2pm EDT) will discuss five of the CubeSats.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Oct 4)

HURRICANE JOAQUIN EYED FROM SPACE STATION - Astronauts on the International Space Station spied powerful Hurricane Joaquin spinning in the Bahamas in a spectacular photo showing the eye of the storm Friday. The cyclone was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph when the picture was taken early Friday, according to NASA. As of 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Saturday, the storm is forecast to move northeast from the Bahamas and pass near Bermuda in the next few days.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 4)

ATLAS 5 LAUNCHES MEXICOS MORELOS-3 L-BAND SATELLITE - A U.S. Atlas 5 rocket on Oct. 2 successfully placed Mexico’s Morelos-3 mobile communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, a launch that will enable Mexico to deploy its MexSat system despite the loss of an identical satellite in May’s failure of a Russian Proton rocket. Operating from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, launch service provider United Launch Alliance notched its 100th mission since its 2006 founding from a merger of rocket operations of its two shareholders, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Morelos-3 builder Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, California, said the satellite was healthy in orbit and sending signals.   More
(Source: Space News - Oct 3)

RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION - A robotic Russian cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station this evening (Oct. 1), ending a brief orbital chase. Russia's uncrewed Progress 61 freighter, also known as 61P, docked with the space station's Zvezda service module at 6:52 p.m. EDT (2252 GMT), while the two craft were zooming together over the North Atlantic Ocean. The cargo vessel, which is stocked with more than 3 tons of food and supplies for the astronauts aboard the orbiting lab, had launched atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just 6 hours earlier.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 3)

LQSAT LAUNCH MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 - Monday, October 5 should see the launch of LQSat which was developed by researchers and students at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) and carries an amateur radio payload. The launch will take place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in Inner Mongolia on a Chang Zheng 2D (CZ-2D) rocket.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Oct 3)

ISS CUBESATS TO DEPLOY MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 - The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that two Danish CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads should be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, October 5. Originally launched to the ISS on August 19, 2015 the two CubeSats, AAUSat-5 and GomX-3, will be deployed from the ISS Japanese Kibo module airlock. An astronaut will manipulate the Kibo robotic arm to lift AAUSAT-5 from the airlock and place it in orbit.   More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Oct 3)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES PROGRESS SUPPLY SHIP TO SPACE STATION - An automated Russian Progress supply ship docked at the International Space Station Thursday evening six hours after launch from Kazakhstan, bringing 3.1 tons of supplies and equipment to the outpost after a problem-free rendezvous. "A flawless journey of six hours three minutes for the Progress 61 cargo craft," reported Rob Navias, NASA's mission control commentator. "All the pre-programmed engine firings to increase its altitude and to begin the journey to catch up to the International Space Station went by the book, with no issues whatsoever." The mission began at 12:49:40 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 10:49 p.m. local time) when the cargo ship's Soyuz booster roared to life and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, two minutes after the space station passed overhead.   More
(Source: CBS News - Oct 2)

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