MICROSOFT HOLOLENS TO LAUNCH AGAIN ON DECEMBER MISSION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - In June, Microsoft and NASA announced a partnership to send the HoloLens to space. However, the unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying the initial units to the International Space Station disintegrated on launch. Now, Microsoft and NASA are ready to try again. On Dec. 3, Orbital Sciences will launch another resupply rocket to the ISS, and two more augmented reality headsets from Microsoft will be on board. According to an interview with Jeff Norris at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in MIT Technology Review, the devices have already been cleared to fly.   More
(Source: GeekWire - Sep 15)

NASA TO LAUNCH 4K TV CHANNEL WITH ULTRA-HD SPACE FOOTAGE AND ONLINE STREAMING ON 1 NOVEMBER - Space enthusiasts, rejoice! Nasa has announced that it will soon be launching its very own TV network that will feature ultra-HD footage of what it is like to work and live on the International Space Station (ISS). The US space agency is joining with worldwide video delivery firm Harmonic to create the first ever non-commercial consumer ultra-HD channel in north America with 2160p resolution video that will work on both conventional TVs as well as streaming over the internet to PCs and mobile devices that have internet connectivity speeds of at least 13 Mbps.   More
(Source: IBTimes - Sep 15)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES PROTON-M ROCKET CARRYING TELECOMS SATELLITE - Russia has successfully launched a Proton rocket, carrying a Russian telecoms satellite, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the second successful launch since the disastrous loss of a Mexican satellite in May. The Proton-M took off at 10.10 pm local time (19.10 GMT) from the desert launch site. “The launch of the rocket was normal,” the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement. Russia had also successfully launched a Proton rocket, carrying a British satellite, in late August.    More
(Source: The Guradian - Sep 14)

LONG MARCH 3B CONDUCTS ANOTHER SECRETIVE LAUNCH - A super-secretive satellite was launched by China from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Saturday. Launch of the unknown spacecraft – unofficially claimed to be the Communications Engineering Test Satellite -1 (TXJSSY-1) – took place at 15:40 UTC using a Long March-3B (Chang Zheng-3B) rocket, as the Chinese continue their build up in space. There is very little information regarding the satellite, with an announcement only provided to the Chinese media – heavily controlled by the Chinese government – the following morning.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 14)

NEW RUSSIAN TELECOM SATELLITE AWAITS LAUNCH MONDAY - A new multipurpose Russian communications satellite to be parked over the Atlantic Ocean is awaiting launch Monday aboard a Proton rocket. Owned by the Russian Satellite Communications Co., Russia’s state-owned civilian telecom satellite operator, the Express AM8 spacecraft is heading for a perch 22,300 miles over the equator. The satellite’s Proton launcher rolled out to its launch facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday and rotated vertical for Monday’s liftoff, which is set for 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT). After flying east from Baikonur, the three-stage core of the Proton rocket will give way to a Block DM upper stage for a series of delicate maneuvers to propel Express AM8 into its intended orbit thousands of miles above Earth.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 14)

5 REASONS WHY THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SHOULD REALLY ORBIT THE MOON - If the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS) had been constructed to orbit our Moon instead of Earth, prospects for the U.S.’ human spaceflight program would arguably be much brighter than today. Here are a few reasons why: An International Lunar Space Station (ILSS) would have guaranteed the U.S. maintained its Apollo-era global dominance in terms of crewed interplanetary transport. Even if NASA had decided not to continue with the Apollo program as originally envisioned, the space agency could have ferried astronauts to lunar orbit using its remaining Saturn V rockets and begun construction of a radiation-hardened, scaled-down version of the current ISS.   More
(Source: Forbes - Sep 12)

SOYUZ LANDS SAFELY IN KAZAKHSTAN - Three space station crew members — two short timers completing a 10-day flight and a veteran cosmonaut who has logged a world record 879 days aloft over five missions — undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth Friday, landing safely on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a problem-free flight. With veteran commander Gennady Padalka strapped into the descent module’s center seat, flanked on the left by European Space Agency flight engineer Andreas Mogensen and on the right by Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov, the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft separated from the aft port of the station’s Zvezda command module at 5:29 p.m. EDT (GMT-4).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 12)

WATCH ISS CREW’S RETURN TO EARTH ON FRIDAY - On Friday (September 11, 2015) three crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are scheduled to leave the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth. NASA Television will provide complete coverage of their departure and landing. Watch here. Expedition 44 commander Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and visiting crew members Andres Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency will undock their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the space station at 5:29 p.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 8:51 p.m. (6:51 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, Kazakhstan time).   More
(Source: EarthSky - Sep 11)

ABS ALL-ELECTRIC SATELLITE ARRIVES EARLY AT OPERATING ORBIT - Satellite fleet operator ABS on Sept. 10 said its ABS-3A satellite, the world’s first all-electric commercial telecommunications spacecraft, has reached final geostationary position and begun operations six months after its launch. Bermuda-based ABS said the satellite’s entry into service occurred about one month ahead of schedule. The advantage of all-electric satellites is their low launch mass, allowing the purchase of less-expensive launch services or, in the case of ABS, enabling satellite operators to launch two satellites at a time depending on the rocket selected. The disadvantage is that they take months to reach geostationary position, rather than a couple of weeks for satellites with chemical propellant.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 11)

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