HAM RADIO CUBESATS SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - At 0413 UT on Friday, April 26, two amateur radio CubeSats TURKSAT-3USAT and CubeBug-1 along with the NEE-01 Pegasus HD TV CubeSat were launched from the Jiuquan Space Center on a CZ-2D rocket. TURKSAT-3USAT is a 3U CubeSat (10x10x30cm) and carries a 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder built by the Turkish TAMSAT / AMSAT-TR group for SSB and CW communications.    More
(Source: AMSAT-UK - Apr 27)

SUCCESS! PROGRESS SPACECRAFT OVERCOMES STUCK ANTENNA, ARRIVES AT STATION - A software fix solved a sticky antenna problem on an unmanned cargo ship, a problem that threatened to interfere with the approach and docking to the International Space Station Friday. Progress 51 successfully docked with the massive orbiting complex at 8:35 a.m. EDT (12:35 p.m. GMT) Friday without the need of assistance from the station crew, which was standing by to take over the docking just in case.    More
(Source: Universe Today - Apr 27)

FOUR SATELLITES LAUNCHED ON CHINA'S LONG MARCH ROCKET - A Chinese Long March rocket blasted off from a remote desert launch base Friday with a high-resolution Earth imaging payload and Ecuador's first satellite. The Long March 2D rocket fired its hydrazine-fueled main engine at 0413 GMT (12:13 a.m. EDT) Friday and muscled off the launch pad at the Jiuquan space center in northwest China, powered by more than 650,000 pounds of thrust for the first two-and-a-half minutes of flight. Liftoff occurred at 12:13 p.m. Beijing time.    More
(Source: Spaceflight Now - Apr 26)

RUSSIANS LAUNCH SPACE STATION RESUPPLY SHIP - It was a throwback of sorts Wednesday as a Russian Progress cargo craft launched on a two-day track in pursuit of the International Space Station, reverting to the old rendezvous style instead of the six-hour sprints employed recently, but one of its navigation antennas did not immediately deploy. Loaded with 3.1 tons of food, fuel and supplies, the freighter was boosted into orbit atop an unmanned Russian Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:12 a.m. EDT (1012 GMT). The space station was located over the South Atlantic at the moment of launch.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 25)

NASA LAUNCHES THREE SMARTPHONES INTO ORBIT - Talk about roaming charges. NASA has launched three smartphones into orbit as part of a low-budget, experimental satellite program that uses off-the-shelf components. The three Google-HTC Nexus One smartphones are circling Earth at an altitude of about 150 miles and will burn up on re-entry within the next two weeks, NASA said. The smartphones, which are encased in 4-inch metal cubes, are running the Android operating system.    More
(Source: Los Angeles Times - Apr 25)

ANTARES ROCKET BLASTS INTO ORBIT FOR FIRST TIME IN TEST FOR NASA - In its maiden flight to space, a commercially built 13-story rocket blasted off from a launch pad off the coast of Virginia in a test mission for NASA. The Antares rocket, developed by Orbital Sciences Corp., roared into orbit after launching Sunday at 2 p.m. Pacific time from the newly built Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. Although it was simply a test flight to reach orbit, the successful launch was another crucial step in NASA’s plan to hand off space missions -- carrying cargo and crews -- to private industry now that the space shuttle fleet has been retired.    More
(Source: Los Angeles Times - Apr 22)

DEAD SATELLITE COMES ALIVE - What was given up as dead, turned out to be alive! The one that sprang a recent surprise was India's first IIT-made student satellite, Jugnu, a product of the students and staff of IIT-Kanpur. The three-kg student satellite was launched on October 12, 2011, along with SRMSat of SRM University in Chennai and VesselSat-1 of Luxembourg. The main satellite was the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques.    More
(Source: Times of India - Apr 21)

RUSSIA TO DEORBIT SPACE STATION’S PIRS MODULE IN 2013 - Russia plans to deorbit and sink its Pirs docking module of the International Space Station later this year, a high-ranking official with the Russian space corporation RKK Energia said on Friday. Alexander Kaleri, the head of the company’s scientific technical center, said undocking and deorbiting Pirs will take place before a new Russian module docks with the station. Alexander Derechin, RKK Energia deputy chief designer said in late March the launch of the multirole laboratory module (MLM) is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2013.    More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Apr 20)

WEATHER AGAIN DELAYS TEST LAUNCH OF PRIVATE ROCKET DESIGNED TO DELIVER SPACE STATION SUPPLIES - A test launch of an unmanned rocket that would eventually help carry supplies to the International Space Station has been rescheduled. NASA says the launch will take place no earlier than 5 p.m. Saturday, with a backup opportunity Sunday. A Friday attempt was called off due to wind and thunderstorms in the area of Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where the launch of the Antares rocket is slated to take place.   More
(Source: Washington Post - Apr 20)

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