CROWD-FUNDED SATELLITE MAY FALL FROM SPACE BEFORE UNLEASHING TINY 'SPRITE' ARMADA - A crowd-funded satellite launched to space last month might burn up in Earth's atmosphere before it can complete its mission to deploy a fleet of even tinier "sprite" satellites in orbit. Funded through the website Kickstarter, the small KickSat launched into space along with a group of other cubesats aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket on April 18. The launch, which also sent SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, successfully delivered KickSat into orbit, but the cubesat has encountered problems in recent days. More (Source: Space.com - May 10)
SATELLITE DATA WILL INSPIRE ENTREPRENEURS AND STIMULATE THE BIRTH OF TECH START-UPS - After some 16 years in gestation, the 7.5 billion EU Copernicus programme has sent the first of a constellation of satellites known as the Sentinels into space. These will be keeping watch on the earth, observing ships which dump oil in Europe’s seas, tracking the contributors to air pollution and helping coordinate rescue efforts after natural disasters like flooding. All the data and images captured by the satellites will be free for anyone to use. The unfettered access will stimulate the birth of IT start-ups that will dream up mobile phone apps utilising the data in a myriad of ways... More (Source: Science Business - May 9)
NIGERIA GETS UK, CHINA SATELLITE HELP ON ABDUCTED GIRLS - Nigerian authorities announced on Wednesday that Britain and China had pledged to deploy satellite imaging and tracking technologies to help the country in its search for scores of schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram rebels last month in the northern Borno State. "President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday requested and received a commitment from Britain to deploy its intelligence gathering resources in support of Nigeria’s security agencies currently engaged in the search and rescue operation," presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said in a statement. More (Source: www.worldbulletin.net - May 9)
HAM TV PUTS ISS ASTRONAUTS LIVE ON AIR - Since the final module was attached to the International Space Station in 2000, amateur radio enthusiasts have been able to listen in on the daily lives of its crew via ham radio signals. But now the station is set to begin broadcasting in the 21st century with Ham TV, making its first transmission last month. Blink and you'll miss the show, however, as the receiving window is only 20 minutes long before the ISS disappears over the horizon. From their orbital observation station, astronauts on the ISS regularly take breaks after their day duties to talk to the "earthlings" some 260 miles below. More (Source: Wired.co.uk - May 9)
CHINA'S POLAR-ORBITING METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE NOW OPERATIONAL - China's third Fengyun-III satellite, a polar orbiting meteorological satellite, was put into operation on Monday, according to a news release posted on the website of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). The satellite was handed over by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation to the CMA. The third Fengyun-III satellite, together with the second Fengyun-III satellite, will form a monitoring network capable of constant three-dimensional, multiple-spectrum and remote-sensing observation of the earth. More (Source: Space Daily - May 8)
SPACEX PLANS TO REVEAL NEW DRAGON MK 2 CAPSULE - Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, announced Friday that a manned version of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will be revealed on May 29. The original Dragon is currently responsible for taking cargo to and from the International Space Station. Although it does contain a pressurized hold, SpaceX has been working on a new version of the Dragon dubbed Mk 2 that is designed to carry a human payload. The new capsule will have additional safety features, and may replace the Russian Soyuz module. Despite NASA largely breaking off contact with the Russian Federal Space Agency due to the situation in Ukraine, the agency must still coordinate with Russia to get astronauts to the ISS and back. Their Soyuz capsule is currently the only delivery method suitable for a human crew. More (Source: The Space Reporter - May 8)
SPACEX SUPPLY SHIP UNLOADED BY ROBOTS AND ASTRONAUTS - The International Space Station's Dextre robot plucked a high-tech laser communications terminal from the trunk of a Dragon commercial cargo craft Monday, completing two weeks of unpacking the SpaceX supply ship's 4,600 pounds of experiments and provisions. The cargo freighter's supply load included materials stowed inside its pressurized cabin and mounted in a rear trunk, an external logistics platform designed to carry large experimental packages and spare parts for operations outside the space station. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 7)
MUOS GIVES NAVY FIRST RELIABLE MILITARY SATELLITE CONNECTION IN THE ARCTIC - Analysis of Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites during the U.S. Navy's 2014 Ice Exercise (ICEX) shows they provided nearly 150 hours of secure data connections. This was the first time military users could transfer large megabyte data files over stable satellite connections in the arctic. Working atop a floating ice camp above the Arctic Circle, a team from Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] provided secure satellite communications and delivered further evidence that MUOS is a reliable asset in the far north. More (Source: Wall Street Journal - May 6)
NASA, CNES SIGN DEAL FOR OCEAN ALTIMETRY SATELLITE - NASA and the French space agency, CNES, on Friday signed an agreement to develop, launch and operate the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite scheduled for launch in 2020 to continue a series of U.S.-French missions monitoring the world's oceans. The SWOT mission will survey rivers, lakes, floods and oceans with greater precision than any spaceborne observatory before. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall signed on to the joint mission Friday in Washington. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 5)
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